The Monsters
by Serena Elisa
Summary: Crono has just been resurrected and Gaspar hands him a long todo list. Meanwhile, Flea is getting depressed at Ozzie's castle. But for someone else being enslaved by the Mystics has been an improvement. COMPLETE.
1. Prologue & Chapter 1

Disclaimer: all characters are property of Squaresoft blahblah -- except for Auree, Gorgl and Yulanna, who are MINE! 

Special thanks to Archangela, my beta reader...so if you still find errors, they are hers ^__^ (no, actually I changed something again after her correction)

Just a note: the second main character being an original one, of course I had to spend more time on her, especially at the beginning of the story, to introduce her personality and her past, and I admit she resembles me in many aspects...but don't tell me she is a Mary Sue. I don't think so.  
Above all, I wanted to write about Flea...I just love him ^__-

The story is rated R because of chapter...uhm, I think it will be # 15. Perhaps. **  
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The Monsters**

(A Chrono Trigger Fanfic)

by Serena Elisa 

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**Prologue**

The End of Time - ??? 

«Is nobody else trying to save the world except us?» Lucca sighed, slumping on the floor, exhausted, at the End of Time. 

«We have been chosen for some reason...We should feel proud...and...do our best...» 

Marle's voice trailed off. She too was very tired. Resurrecting friends is always a demanding task.   
Marle looked around at the companions' pale faces. 

«Well, let's rest here for a while...Then we'll go back to work, OK? There WON'T be any other surprises, right, Gaspar?» 

The old man at the lamp-post suddenly awoke. 

«Uh? Ah..._Many paths lay open to you...You may use that Bucket. Or fly the Wings of Time to the day of Lavos...Or there's Black Omen, which floats in the sky above your world..._» 

«Well, yes» Marle observed, confused «You've already told us this stuff, five minutes ago» 

«Twice» Lucca added fretfully. 

Gaspar gave no sign to having heard her. 

_«It's up to you to decide when and where to fight Lavos. By now you must realize you are the only ones who stand a chance against him_» 

«Great» the newly revived Crono sighed, trying to interrupt Gaspar's speech «Look, we have underst---» 

«_However, you will not be alone. I have had glimpses of events that will empower you...In the Middle Ages, a woman's sheer determination brings a forest back to life...a fugitive, Ozzie, maintains an evil hideout_...» 

Ayla, leaning against the wall besides the infamous Bucket, was already snoring. Magus had wrapped himself with his cloak and looked on the verge of following Ayla's example. 

«Yes, yes, Robo has taken note» Marle added, encouraging. 

But the Guru couldn't stop. 

«_There's a task to be done in the future. And there's a very special stone that can shine its light on each generation_...» 

«What's the matter with this guy?» Lucca whined, exhausted. 

«I sense a malfunctioning in his system» Robo said, managing to express a note of concern in his synthetic voice. 

«_There's a ghost of a lofty knight who haunts the present. There's an object in the Middle_   
_Ages that sparkles like a rainbow...One of you is close to someone who needs help..._» 

Crono and Marle had finally given up and were lying on the floor. Crono was fiddling with the hilt of his sabre and Marle was intently studying her fingernails.   
Robo nudged Lucca. 

«I ask permission to shut myself off» 

«Given» she yawned. 

«_Just as you touch the lives of every life form you meet, so, too, will their energy strengthen you. Fail to live up you potential and you will never win_...» 

Glenn was still sitting diligently at Gaspar's feet, trying hard to look as he was giving the Guru his full attention. He would have to be dead before deliberately being rude to an old man. But his eyelids weren't obeying him anymore, his round frog eyes were slowly, but surely, closing by themselves... 

The Guru sighed and concluded in a dreamy tone. 

«_I am sorry that I must simply witness the coming spectacle from my vantage point here._..» 

No one answered him. Only then he realized unconscious bodies surrounded him. 

«Uh...ehm...hello?» 

  
  
  
  
**Chapter 1**

Ozzie's Fort - 600 A.D.

Auree was an old maid. 

Well, it was true she was a maid, but she was not really old yet. But while she didn't feel old...she didn't feel young either. Sometimes it seemed to her that she had never lived. 

There had been happy times, when she was a little girl. Her mother had been a teacher, they used to live in a comfortable house full of books. But her father had ruined everything. 

Auree and her mother had had to leave the house and then the town, toward a future that had been revealed to be bleaker than their worst expectations. Her mother had ended up as a tailor's aid in a small village, the delicate work had made her eyesight degenerate quickly. She had turned into a bitter, precociously aged woman who hardly spoke to anyone except Auree. She lived shunning other people and forced her daughter to do the same, since, in her own mind, "everybody was laughing at them". 

Auree had always been a shy and secretive girl. From the isolation imposed by her mother, she learned to deny and hide her own emotions so effectively that sometimes she thought she could feel herself fading into nothingness. 

She had grown up without friends, her only joy being some books she had managed to save from the old house. Like her mother, she wasn't good at manual works; she was intelligent and capable of deep thought, but clumsy when it came to her hands. Her attempts to help her mother tailoring and embroidering failed miserably. Shopkeepers didn't wanted her as assistant because she didn't speak-up with being spoken to first (and it was a challenge to get her to answer with something longer than a syllable), looked self-conscious and "couldn't smile", in the words of potential employers. 

That was untrue, of course. She liked smiling and laughing as much as everyone else. And she did both things when she was alone, reading or remembering something funny she had heard earlier. But she didn't show her emotion anymore than she would show her body. On the other hand, her mother didn't like to see her too much vivacious - so there was no real cause for celebrating anyway. 

In other words, Auree had always lived in her own private universe, with an abstract, always unfulfilled need for love. 

It was not that she was waiting for a man.   
From her mother's disastrous experience she had learnt very early not to trust men. Men were selfish and inept creatures who ruin women's lives. They steal their wives' money and abandon their children. She hadn't any romantic dream. But often, in the middle of long cold nights, she thought about...many things. 

At twenty-eight, she had allowed a boy to kiss her. It had been a quick, rather chaste kiss. She had appreciated it, but she hadn't felt any desire to go any further. She simply didn't like the boy very much; curiosity had been what had driven her to kiss him, nothing more. She had felt no excitement, no real pleasure...no emotions. 

At the end of that same year, her mother had died suddenly, leaving Auree with virtually no chance to survive on her own. And to add calamity to catastrophe, soon after that the Mystics had come and enslaved everybody. 

And thus came the great surprise of her life. Discovering that it wasn't so bad. Yes, slavery wasn't so bad. The work was not very hard, she had two assure meals a day and a bed and no monster tortured her...A peaceful life. 

Now, for example...She worked in the kitchen and there would be a great feast that night. But at three in the afternoon she had very little to do. She could take a walk in the courtyard, just acting like a busy servant going on errands for someone else -and actually enjoying the fresh air and the pale winter sun.

The only thing she really missed was solitude. A place all for herself... 

A small commotion around Auree interrupted her brooding. She turned and saw one of the Mystic Captains crossing the courtyard, surrounded by his bodyguards. She quietly stepped out of his way, suddenly uncomfortable and nervous. 

Auree knew that most of the slaves thought of him as a funny, eccentric person. Many -especially men- secretly winked and snickered among themselves at him, and then ran away not daring to take the risk of drawing_ his _attention. _He_ would never stand such behaviour from men. Women on the other hand giggled openly. 

Auree never did any of this. She stood still, in the uttermost confusion, until he had gone by. 

"_What are they laughing at?_" She thought, shivering. 

There wasn't anything funny about _him_. The sight of that one always left her trembling. 

Slash was arrogant and violent. Ozzie was a fat green fool. 

But Flea was _scary_. 

  
***

  
He was not naturally cruel. 

On the contrary, he was quite kind-hearted for one of his race. 

Of course, he despised humans as every good Mystic did; humans were an inferior race, unpleasant and stupid. But, aside of that, he didn't like to see them slaughtered or tortured without a good reason. He couldn't stand the sight of their blood. Ozzie's babble about ruling the world and getting rid of all humans usually made him yawn. 

Yes, humans were annoying, they always had chased the Mystics like animals - and yes, it was necessary, sometimes, to teach them a lesson...But, why bother with a wholesale slaughter? 

Flea had never been enthusiastic about those wars. He didn't understand why they had taken so many prisoners and felt sure that all those unnecessary slaves would cause troubles sooner or later. 

There was an amazing number of humans at the castle. And doing what? You couldn't cross the courtyard without running into load of them, and often (especially during sunny pleasant afternoons) they were simply walking around lazily, chattering among themselves, not even pretending to work.

Well...there was, in fact, an issue about humans that made him angry each time he tried to reason about it...He looked around, at the people crowding the banquet hall. They were shouting, laughing, eating with their bare hands and talking with their mouth full... 

The average Mystic was so ugly and rough. 

The average human was the same, but he didn't know: he had seen young and pretty slaves of both sexes (of course, General Ozzie had no use for old people) and had reached the conclusion that Nature had favoured the useless race.

He was trying not to pay attention to the ranting at his right, but when the Hench at his left belched at the top of his lungs, he jumped up from his chair. 

«Disgusting...you're all DISGUSTING!» He yelled, with his usually gentle contralto voice. 

The Hench, namely one Gorgl, smiled toothlessly. 

«What's up with you, sir? Can't you enjoy the party?» He said, with drunken cheerfulness. 

«I'm afraid it's all my fault,» a grinning Slash said «I was giving our friend here a detailed account of the punishment I chose for some rebellious slaves this morning...Seems I forgot how squeamish our dear Flea is» 

Flea glared at him, and Slash nodded back, a mocking smirk on his cerulean face. 

«I don't blame you. I'm sorry,» Slash said with false contriteness «You were trying to eat and then I came with all this talk about human warm entrails, maimed limbs and gallons of red blood sloshing on the ground...» 

«Yuk!» Gorgl gurgled stolidly. 

«_Your_ blood is red Slash,» Flea remarked coldly «Like mine» 

«True, true,» the Swordsman admitted reluctantly «But--» 

Gorgl seemed shocked. 

«Really, sir? Your...your blood is...» 

«...What does that mean?» Slash snarled quickly turning on the astounded Hench «We are not related to _them_ in any way...No more than we are to any other red-blooded _animal_» 

Flea was removing some invisible hairs from his left sleeve. He always adjusted his clothes when distressed. Slowly, he calmed himself down enough to speak in cool measured tones. 

«You must be very unlucky, Slash,» he said, after a long pause «Every slave you choose for your personal service turns out to be a rebel, a thief or a potential assassin...Now, I wonder, why is that?» 

«How unfortunate» Slash agreed with narrowed eyes «And then I have to execute them all. You can never trust a human. It must be something related with their absurd pink skin...» 

Flea knew very well that last insult was directed at him, who could be easily mistaken for a human - a _female_ human, by the way...Usually he got angry at Slash remarks and the two would spend hours bickering. 

But not this time. It had been a bad day and Flea was in a melancholy mood. He sighed, suddenly feeling very tired and unhappy. 

He was about to turn his back on the arrogant Swordsman and leave the hall without another word, when he took sight of a servant passing by with a tray full of small glasses. That was fine liquor, not the low-priced, nauseating stuff for the likes of Gorgl and Slash! 

«Hey!» He called, trying to be heard above the noise «Excuse me! Girl? Here! Over here!» 

At last the girl turned, saw Flea...and let the contents of the tray splatter all over Slash's legs. 

Gorgl exploded, laughing so hard he nearly fell from the bench -and he was immediately imitated by other Henches at the near tables. Soon nearly the entire room was roaring with raucous laughter, though only one or two actually knew what they were laughing about. 

Flea too allowed himself a good laugh before noticing the deathly pale face of the little servant. There was nothing really noticeable about the woman's appearance -she had ordinary straight brown hair, an average figure, rough, drab clothes; but the pure, absolute terror he saw in her hazel eyes pierced his heart like an arrow. 

Slash was telling her she was a dead woman, in a low, pleasant voice, and, knowing him very well, Flea understood they weren't just empty words. Somehow, he couldn't stand for that to happen. 

«Come on, Slash,» he scoffed «Is _this_ your strength? Your courage? Menacing helpless women? She just tripped...probably over your huge feet» 

«She...uh...she...» Slash snarled at him inarticulately, enraged. 

«Yeah, she's really an ominous, scary creature, right? She attacked you with her corrosive liquids, eh? I suggest you go out a little more...and look for _real_ enemies» 

Slash realized most of people in the room were looking at him, amused by his undignified outburst. 

Meanwhile, the servant, having gotten the impression from Flea that he was gesturing for her to go away until she could do that unnoticed, retreated carefully, walking backward amidst the crowd. 

«I'll forgive you this time» Slash roared to empty air, believing she were still behind him «But never show your face to me again, or I _will_ kill you!» 

He stood and kicked the abandoned tray away and left. 

Quietly sniggering, Flea remained besides the cackling Hench. He looked around for the girl, but couldn't see her anywhere. It was too bad really, he would have liked to thank her for that amusing little interlude. 

  
***   


That night, however, Auree couldn't sleep at all. Not now that Flea had noticed her existence -and had _winked_ at her.   
  



	2. Chapter 2

Sorry for the delay...it seems I can't contact my beta anymore...so I decided to post this chapter as I wrote it.   
Probably there are errors, since English is not my first language...be merciful :-)   
Thanks to everybody who wrote a review! 

**The Monsters**

**Chapter 2**

Fiona's Villa - 600 A.D. 

«You won't have any problem, now» 

Fiona smiled gratefully. 

The companions were comfortably sitting around a table, chatting while taking some tea with a wonderful cake. At last, someone who thanked them in a tangible way. Someone who had presented them with normal and tasteful food instead of some suspicious-looking broth. 

Of course, Magus -alone in his corner- was scowling as usual, Ayla was crouched on the ground eating in a _peculiar_ way, and Robo just stared at the cake. There was a friendly atmosphere nevertheless. 

«Surely, the big monster has given us a hard time» Marle continued «A grotesque creature, like a giant skeleton...how ugly! It reminded me a bit of that other skeleton, that Zombor at Zenan Bridge. But this one was a lot more powerful. It kept us busy for...half an hour, right, Lucca?» 

«Yes, perhaps more» the young scientist replied, her mouth full. 

«And I was badly injured! Robo saved me...but you know...we couldn't have defeated it without our _wonderful_ friend Glenn!» 

Everybody agreed. Glenn lowered his head, suddenly embarrassed. It was true, just his water magic had been effective to weaken the strong defences of the monster, making it vulnerable to ordinary weapons. But he remembered perfectly well to have been reluctant to enter the desert caves and to have complained a lot against the sand...because his frog skin suffered in dry places. 

Nobody had made any comment, but he knew his friends had understood and he had felt deeply uncomfortable and ashamed for his cursed form. 

«So, it was that...skeleton which caused earthquakes?» Fiona asked, and Glenn was really grateful to her for having changed issue. 

«Yes, you can sow your seeds now» Lucca assured. 

Fiona stood up and went to pick up a small vase with a plant in it. 

«I'm so happy! I will start working immediately...It'll take some centuries, but a day in this place there will be a forest again!» 

«Perhaps we can help» Lucca said brightly. 

«Oh, you've already done so much!» 

«But Robo..._Robo_?!» 

Robo was cracking some nuts. 

«He's helping me» Crono explained meekly «I couldn't manage...» 

Lucca cleared her throat. 

«Robo, you could...» 

«YES!» Marle yelled with enthusiasm, jumping up «He can prepare the soil, irrigate and so on a lot faster than any human worker!» 

«And we can leave him here and go to pick him up in our time!» 

Robo had already left the table and was bowing to Fiona. 

«I feel honoured to be useful in such a good cause» 

Crono glanced at Glenn. 

«He's talking a lot about honour, lately...perhaps he wants to became a knight» 

Glenn laughed and suddenly felt happy again. He was with friends, nobody was going to ridicule him for his appearance. 

He took some cake and croaked merrily. 

***

Ozzie's Fort - 600 A.D. 

Slash's sword danced swiftly in the air, hitting and slicing the flying targets launched at him by two blue Imps. He hadn't failed once. 

«Faster! Faster!» he yelled. 

The Imps tried to obey, but they were already moving at their maximum speed, sweating and moaning under their breath. 

«Faster, you spineless wimps!» 

The Imps stumbled into each other's feet and both fell sprawling on the floor. Their master gave a terrifying howl and they quickly run for their lives, crawling and limping on knees and hands. 

Slash attacked ferociously one of the training puppets, nearly destroying it with the first blow. Then he threw back his head with another cry, his sword raised in a defying stance. 

Slowly he became aware of a soft giggling from a dark corner, and a sarcastic voice addressed him. 

«So you won. Wow. Cool. Great. How manly» 

He turned with an abrupt but graceful movement and spoke harshly. 

«What do you want, you bitch?» 

Flea laughed openly, making himself visible at last. He was hovering in the air, a bit like Ozzie liked doing, but a lot more elegantly -at least he didn't looked as if he was on the point of rolling away like a balloon. 

«Nothing from _you_, you slimy pig» he answered peacefully. In some way, he managed to sound really menacing using such a calm tone. 

«Then go away and let me practice» the Swordsman hissed. 

The Magician was flying around Slash, forcing him to turn continually to face the other one. Slash too knew that spell, but after the exertions of his training he was too tired to use magic. And magic wasn't his speciality. He didn't trust it. 

«Otherwise you'll menace me with your _oh so big_ sword, uh?» Flea chuckled, putting a hand over his mouth, like a flirting girl. 

Slash sheathed his blade and took some deep breaths to calm down. 

«You actually _enjoy_ coming to tease me, don't you?» 

«Shouldn't I? Oh...no, probably I should kill you. I should have done it thirty years ago. But I'm a person easy to get on with. I hate to feel angry for too long» 

Flea was still smiling sweetly. 

«You're just a harlot» Slash spat out. 

«That's what _you_'ve been dreaming of, my dear friend...in your sick imagination» 

Slash's patience snapped. His harsh voice echoed angry into the dungeon. 

«_I_ am sick?! You're one to talk! You go around wearing a fake breast and everything and pretend to be surprised if someone takes a wrong idea on you!» 

«Are you sure it's fake?» 

Flea touched gracefully the floor and stood before the Swordsman, always grinning. 

«Typical of you, judging people from their clothes. But, see, it's so simple...I don't feel the urge of pumping my muscles and taking off my shirt in front of other males...or speaking roughly with bad words and dirty innuendoes...or shedding blood to demonstrate my strength. I leave this behaviour to those unsure about their manliness. I'm not» 

«Because you haven't _any_» Slash growled. 

«Poor child, you know _nothing_ about me. Forget it. Go on with playing with swords and little knives...» Flea sighed wearily. He turned away and moved toward the main door. 

«...and going after young boys» he added in a lower -but still audible- voice. 

Slash reacted in a couple of seconds. He grabbed one of Flea's arm, forcing him to turn again to face the point of his sword. Even then, with that blade against his throat, Flea continued to smile, an amused light in his brown eyes. 

«This is not true» Slash whispered «And remember that I could kill you with a slight movement of my hand» 

«So could I..._Don't touch me_» the Magician warned gently. 

Slash regained enough lucidity to notice Flea was pointing his fingers against his chest -not touching it- ready to use his fire magic, with that angelic smile on his lips. Slash had already experienced the effect of that power. Just once...once too much. 

It wouldn't have been so bad if only Flea hadn't actually looked like a woman, a rather attractive one. Only examining his face at a very close distance, or seeing him without any make-up or feminine apparel -a thing nearly impossible to achieve, though- one could have suspected he wasn't (a woman -but still attractive, in his own way). 

Flea's charge was unjust, though. Slash didn't usually go after young boys. But...once, at the very beginning of Flea's staying at the castle he had been tempted indeed... 

«Oh, Slash» the Magician was saying, with mocking gentleness «Have you ever thought about attempting to please me with some nice words, just for a change?» 

Slash sneered. 

«And would I have had a chance?» 

«Not one. I'm different from you. But perhaps we might have been friends» 

Slash had lowered his weapon again. 

«I don't need your friendship» he declared coldly. 

«Neither I need yours. But maintaining good relationships with other people sometimes helps» Flea murmured, playing with the tip of his long braid. 

He was obviously exaggerating his normal womanish behaviour just to irritate the Swordsman further, feigning a seduction scene.__

_"What a side-show"_, Slash thought, _"and she is really good at it. Damn...HE is. I'll never learn!"_

«But I have come with a reason» Flea said at last, in a more even tone «His Fatness...I mean, Sir Ozzie...wants to speak to both of us. Together» 

Slash stared at him for several seconds. Then the Swordsman snarled. 

«I don't believe you» 

«Pardon? You don't believe Ozzie's calling...?» 

Slash shook his head contemptuously.   
«No! I don't believe your...pretending!» he declared, gesturing accusingly with a gloved hand. 

«My _what_?» 

«I don't believe anything you've said! No normal man would behave like you. I'm not even sure you're really a male!» 

«Your problem. If you're saying this in the vain hope to trick me into taking off my clothes to show you...it won't work. Now, I'm going before Ozzie gets angry...will you come or not?» 

Slash didn't answer. Flea shrugged and went to the door.   
  



	3. Chapter 3

Still no news from my beta...I hope she's well.   
I guess I have to ask for someone else to check my grammar. Any volunteer? Please? 

**Chapter 3**

Ozzie's Fort - 600 A.D. 

Auree saw him coming from a long distance. She was crossing a hall full of busy Imps and he appeared at the other side. She gasped, suddenly out of breath, and stopped, making another slave bump into her. 

Flea was walking amidst the people rather nonchalantly and his bodyguard was nowhere to be seen. He went toward one or the six passages that departed from that huge room. 

Auree looked frantically around for a suggestion. She found one in a laundry trolley which had been apparently abandoned in a corner. She grabbed it and started to push it toward the direction taken by the Mystic, at first nearly running, then, when she could see him again, slower. 

She was following him for no particular reason. Except for the fact that recently she had grown more and more obsessed by that strange...uhm...person. She too was feeling strange. In those days she was _thinking_ strange thoughts and _doing_ strange things. Like following unknown -and probably dangerous- people in dark corridors. 

"_I just love looking at him_", she thought, pushing the trolley with a dreaming smile on her pale lips "_He seems such a...a kind person!_" 

That little accident with the glasses in the banquet hall had changed something. It had given her courage, and a new hope. 

Nobody noticed her. She saw Flea entering a big oaken door and she cautiously approached it. The door had been left ajar. She peeped carefully inside, trying not to make any sound. 

***

«Where is the other failure?» Ozzie growled. 

«Don't know. Perhaps seeking medical advice. He was delirious, and a bit of gender confused» 

«Shut up! Shut up!» the green Mystic leader yelled, a hand over his eyes, as if he was suffering from a big headache «Flea, did you never learn to STAY QUIET?» 

«No, not really. After all, _you_'ve asked and...» 

"_What a musical voice he has_", Auree told herself. 

Actually, Flea's drawling voice was as ambiguous as his appearance; a pleasant, warm voice, however. 

«Exactly what I suspected!» Ozzie snarled in a shrilly, exasperated tone. 

«Uhm...happy to see you can remember your own actions, boss» 

Ozzie pointed a finger -a green sausage- at the Magician. 

«You're not prepared! I call for you...and you don't come quickly enough! You think of your business first! What if we had been in a real emergency?» 

«_I_ am here, boss» Flea sighed wearily «This remember me of school days...when almost everybody had taken an unauthorised holiday and teachers complained with the few pupils who _had stayed_! Really absurd...» 

Auree smiled. That had happened to her, too. 

«Never known you've been to a school, Flea» Slash's sarcastic voice said «I thought your wonderful "blow-up-everything" mother of yours had taught you all by herself» 

The Swordsman was approaching Ozzie's throne with a fast and secure gait. He bowed to the General and then turned to Flea with a sardonic smile. 

«All except her last spell, luckily for us» he added cruelly. 

Flea had turn a bit pale. He set his lips and took a deep breath before replying. 

«I've been into a class, indeed. In that hideous place Sir Ozzie had found me» he said politely. 

Auree didn't like at all the way Slash was looking at Flea. There was something...something lewd in his stare. The servant girl felt a surge of anger, the sudden desire to hit the Swordsman and cancel that expression from his ugly, fishy blue face. 

It felt like...she gasped..._jealousy_? 

«In the place Sir Ozzie should have left you...for the joy of your elder schoolmates» 

Flea hissed a _very bad_ word, a homicidal glimpse in his stare. Auree was rather shocked by the force of that insult, but she could understood the Magician's exasperation. 

"I_t must be horrible being harassed that way._" 

«Enough!» Ozzie shouted, unheeded. 

Slash's lips curled in derision. 

«So you're the one who never uses bad words, eh?» 

«Not in cold blood, not in normal conversation among polite people. Only when a son of a bitch like you provokes me too much!» 

«ENOUGH!!!» 

The two lieutenants remembered to be at Ozzie's presence and held their tongue at last.   
«No wonder our enemies have defeated us so easily! You're a DISASTER! But now things will change. From today, you...we will train everyday..._together_» 

Both Slash and Flea sighed mournfully. 

«Don't protest! You _remember_ our shameful defeat, don't you?» 

The two nodded. 

«It happened because we were overconfident, we underestimated those humans and faced them divided. We won't do the same mistake again!» 

«Let's do a new one» Flea murmured, and even Slash snickered. 

«Have you said something?» Ozzie barked. 

«No» the Magician sighed, lowering his gaze. 

«I'll be waiting for you..._both_ of you...this afternoon at three, for ---» 

Auree never learned what for. A thick, green hand grasped her arm, wrenching her away form the door. 

«What are you doing here, uh?» a big Hench's grating voice asked, booming into her ears. 

She couldn't speak, full of terror, sure that the monster was about to hit or perhaps even kill her. 

But the Hench just pushed her away. 

«Go to work! Away! Understood?» 

Auree didn't wait. She run at her maximum speed, leaving trolley and laundry behind.   
  



	4. Chapter 4

I'm back, at last, with a new beta: January!  
AnGi Kitty, I'm impressed by your enthusiasm for my work and I promise that, if some catastrophe befalls January, you will be my next editor! :-)

****

**Chapter 4**

Ozzie's Fort - 600 A.D.

_«What a wonderful hair you have, mum! Can I do mine like this?»_

_«Of course, my love...sit here. I'll comb your hair...»_

_The blonde, slim Mystic woman rose from the stool and the child took her place._

_She began brushing the child's red hair, but soon her son became uneasy on the stool. He started giggling and moved backward to rest his head on his mother's soft bosom._

_«Flea, stand still!» she protested, but it was no use._

_She hugged and squeezed him, making the small one scream with happy terror._

Flea sighed, filling another glass with ruby-red liquor, and looking at the musicians with empty eyes.

Usually he could manage his melancholy moments with ease: his studies and researching about magic were absorbing enough to keep his mind too busy for brooding. But not this time, because the thought of magic was too tightly related to sad memories. It had been useful, in other occasions, to read other kinds of books: novels, poetry, something with no connection at all with daily life. But this hadn't worked either; he wasn't able to concentrate enough to read.

Music was the last resort. It had always relaxed and comforted him.

Not this time. He looked down into his glass and saw his mother again...

_«No mumbling, Flea, I've asked you to fetch those herbs two days ago! Now, go!»_

_But the woman's stern expression soon relaxed seeing the ten-years-old Flea picking the basket and walking toward the door in a sad silence. She smiled._

_«Wait» she called, and went to adjust her son's cloak._

_«Don't go too far»_

_«No, mum»_

_«You remember where the herbs patch is, right? You...»_

_«Yes, mum!»_

_She gently stroked his cheek._

_«There's a good...boy» she murmured._

_She was a lucky mother. Her Flea was respectful, affectionate...there was just that little...weirdness. But who hasn't any weirdness?_

_«I'll be back soon, mum» he announced brightly, standing in the doorway with the basket in his hands._

_She smiled again -a warm smile so similar to his own- and waved a hand._

The last time he had ever seen her.

Flea couldn't distinguish his reflection anymore on the surface of his drink. He hurriedly wiped the tears away from his eyes and drank the liquor -a bit too quickly, it made him cough.

Had his mother been really so serene while saying him goodbye? Hadn't she been slightly worried? Was she sending her son far from the house on purpose?

He had asked himself those questions so many times. He would never know.

He was about to dismiss the musicians when the door slammed open and a big Hench entered the parlour. Gorgl, of course. He bowed, pretending to be formal because of the other people looking at him. He wasn't very convincing.

«Uhm...sir...ehm...»

«What?» Flea sighed.

«Sorry to interrupt your...uhm...fun, but...»

He was staring at the -now silent- orchestra as if they were a group of alien life forms. Eating a lot, drinking a lot, dancing, entertaining women..._that_ was what he could call .

«Another trouble?»

«No! The girl...she was following you around again, so I arrested her»

The Magician looked thoughtfully at his bodyguard.

«I've been here all the afternoon. How could she have followed me around?»

«This morning, sir! When you went to train with Sir Ozzie, and...»

«And you've waited nearly six hours before telling me!»

«You wanted to stay alone, so I...and I thought...»

«You _thought_...?»

«...that staying in that cell for some hours would teach her»

«Would teach her what?»

Gorgl shifted his feet on the floor. He had entered his master's rooms so enthusiastically and now he had lost the initiative. If only there hadn't been those stupid musicians, staring and listening...

«Not to follow people, sir?»

Flea thanked the orchestra and finally dismissed everybody. The Hench was about to draw a loud sigh of relief, but saw the Magician's impatient stare and thought better of it.

«Sure she's the same girl?»

«Ah...uh...of course...mumble...»

«Mumble?»

«Ehm...»

«_You_ saw her the other time!»

«Yeah...but humans...they all look alike!»

The Hench ignored Flea's burning glance and smiled.

«Should I execute her, sir?» he asked helpfully.

«My god, NO! Why should you?»

The Hench looked confused.

«For...you know...following you?»

«You have not harmed her, have you?»

«No, sir!»

Flea nodded.

«Good. Let's see her!»

***

A complex system of mirrors allowed the guards to look into cells without being seen.

«She hasn't moved» the Hench whispered.

Auree was sitting on the small couch, leaning against the wall.

«But...that's her!» Flea exclaimed after a quick glance into the mirror.

«That's her, yeah...» Gorgl stolidly repeated.

«I mean, it's the girl with the tray...you remember? About a month ago...she accidentally hit Slash during a banquet...»

The Hench looked blank, as if his master were speaking another language. Flea gave up.

«You were too drunk, I suppose. I'm sure it's the same girl»

Gorgl grew more and more restless while the Mystic Magician intently observed the prisoner inside, with a frown on his pretty face.

The human slave was hugging her knees, her stare lost somewhere. Like a disheartened, sad little animal in a cage.

Flea murmured something the Hench didn't understand.

«What did you say, sir?» he asked.

His master didn't answer. That pathetic girl looked utterly desperate...but not, he noticed, filled with those angry feelings of someone who had suffered a major offence. Hers was that quiet, silent despair which comes from a whole life of unhappiness, daily defeats and small humiliations.

Flea didn't liked humans, but...he didn't hate them either. So he really felt pity for the girl.

«I said...she's the saddest thing I've ever seen» Flea repeated in a louder tone «Why was she following me? Did she explained something?»

«Nothing, sir...»

«You haven't asked her, have you?» the Magician sighed.

«Uhm...no...» the Hench admitted, looking away.

«Perhaps I should ask her by myself»

Gorgl gaped, shocked.

«You mean to...enter there, sir? With _her_?»

«What do you fear? That she could hit me with the pillow? That she could rape me? I could have lost that little battle at Magus' Castle, but I'm still able to face a slave!»

Gorgl searched his slow mind for something right to say, but he could find nothing and took the wise decision to shut up.

But Flea didn't move.

«No, it wouldn't be no use going there» he sighed, studying the mirror again «She's plainly terrified. She wouldn't speak. Well, Gorgl, let her go»

«Uh...let her go?!»

«Yes! She hasn't done a thing! But...watch over her. Right? Can you remember her face now?»

«Yessir!»

_I surely will,_ Flea thought, leaving the prison area.

While walking slowly on the way back to his chambers, he remembered another episode of his youth. A funny one.

He had been in the orphanage for six months...no fun in that. But a day he had overheard a conversation between two of his teachers, a discussion about _him_...

«That young magician» one had been saying. «He...disturbs me. It's rather difficult to believe he's a boy, isn't it?»

«That's what he says,» the other one, an old female Mystic, had answered, «Better not contradict him...or her. That young one has been through a very traumatic experience...»

Flea had then perceived a tinge of bewilderment in the first one's voice.

«You mean...nobody has actually _checked_ that pupil real sex?»

The old woman sighed.

«Do you remember Skliphew?»

«The former doctor's aid? The one who broke both his arms in that strange accident...oh! Are you saying...?»

There had been a shocked silence, and the young Flea had had to put a hand over his mouth not to laugh loudly. He disliked violence -it was so _vulgar_- but sometimes there is no alternative.

_What would you do if a lecherous old man tried to rip your underpants off, eh? Send me a pretty female nurse and perhaps I'll show her my little secret!_

«Oh...he's dangerous!» the first teacher had continued, «I don't think this is the right place for him. We should...send that...person to the female school»

__ Flea had yelled merrily in his mind. Just some months before, the idea of living among girls would be a very depressing one, but now the thought had a new, exciting flavour.

«You must be joking!» the other teacher had protested, «What if he's actually a boy?»

Flea had heard the first one clear his throat before speaking, a bit reluctantly.

«Well...a boy like him...shouldn't be a problem for girls»

_They think that...they think THAT?!_

At that point, the young Mystic hadn't been able to stay quiet anymore. He had run away, far from the teachers' room and, reaching one of the large classrooms, had burst into laughter. Some of his schoolmates had glanced at him nervously, but none had spoken, knowing Flea was a bit mad.

Returning to the present, in front of his own door, Flea found himself actually laughing.

Too bad Ozzie had come to take him away...he would have enjoyed the female school.


	5. Chapter 5

**The Monsters**

**Chapter 5**

Ozzie's Fort - 600 A.D.

«You are too restless» Gorgl was saying «Gloomy. What's wrong?»

Flea shrugged. They were walking on the ramparts of Ozzie's fort. Flea often stopped to look up to the sky or down to the crowd of human slaves and Mystic soldiers in the courtyard.

«Nothing someone like you could understand» he replied.

Gorgl showed his silly smile.

«I know what you need» he said «A girl»

He glanced sideways at his master.

«Or whatever you'd like»

_How impertinent this Hench is_, Flea thought, _This is my fault, I should treat servants the way Slash does._

Gorgl had been Flea's bodyguard for so long that he had begun feeling allowed to make personal remarks to the boss.

«Gorgl,» the Magician answered calmly «have you ever heard of me loving a boy?»

«I've never heard of you loving a girl either, sir»

Flea sighed.

«I don't tell you everything, you know. I've never brought any of my girlfriends here...but, in my native village...»

«Yeah, heard about it. Place filled with those strange humanoid Mystics...»

«...like me»

«Yes, but...no need to go so far. If you look around...»

Gorgl licked his green lips.

«There's plenty of stuff, sir. You have just to choose and...»

«_Stuff?_ What are you talking about?»

«You know, females! Look at _her_!»

He was pointing to a human slave on a stair a few feet below them. When the woman raised her head, the Hench waved a hand and she answered brightly.

She was enormously fat, with vulgar features, and looked dirty, heavily sweating.

«She's Yulanna, my girlfriend» Gorgl said, with pride.

Flea stared at him in disbelief.

«Are you joking or what?» he asked later.

«Why?»

«She is the ugliest _thing_ I've ever seen!»

Yulanna was coming up the stairs and had to gather her vest, showing parts of her legs. Flea saw what seemed like two lumps of knotty fat streaked with blue turgid veins. A sickening spectacle. 

«Look, sir, I'm a Hench and she looks a bit like a Hench female, so I like her, right? I can't stand those humans so skinny...with only two breasts...»

«She too has only two breasts!»

«Yeah, but they look like more. And she likes me! Er_you_ are the weird one, sir!»

Flea took a deep breath. He spoke coldly.

«Yes. I'm weird, all right. If loving beauty is weird...if washing myself and caring for my appearance is weird...Yes, I'm weird. _So?_ I remind you that I'm one of the bosses around here, and the most powerful magician of the century...now that Magus has gone. You should show more respect»

«Sorry, sir. But you were rude about Yulanna»

«Right. I'm sorry too. Let's forget the whole business...please don't mention that Yulanna again, I won't hear anything about her or any other girlfriend of yours»

The crestfallen Gorgl nodded.

«Yessir»

«Have you kept an eye on that human girl, the one that used to follow me around?» the Magician asked sternly.

«Yessir»

«And what did you find out?»

«She hardly speaks with her workmates at all. I don't think...» Gorgl hesitated, noticing Flea's arched eyebrow at the word when referred to the Hench «It doesn't seem like there is a conspiration against you, sir. And the girl looks quite harmless...but you never know. She's strange, that's for sure»

Flea smiled, nodding.

«I have an idea about what could have made her react so vehemently seeing me at the banquet...and then hanging around without any apparent reason. So, Gorgl...what are you laughing at, you fool?»

«Heh heh heh...you think...she has a crush on you or something...don't you?»

«Would this be so unbelievable?» Flea asked in icy cold tones «I consider myself quite attractive»

Gorgl fell silent.

Flea resumed his speech after a long pause.

«Well, I don't know what her problem is, but...I will tell you something now and I don't want you to reach the wrong conclusion» 

He gently cleared his throat.

«Can you imagine how much damage those Imps inflict everyday on my precious objects and clothes in the attempt to clean up? Well, I have thought that a human servant might work better. What do you say?»

Gorgl didn't let himself grin.

«Really a good idea, sir»

He caught himself just before saying something about Yulanna's sisters.

***

Truce Village - 990 A.D.

«Lucca! Lucca, help me! The password!»

«I don't know it!»

Lucca, the adult one, was running like she had never done before. Entering a red gate she had found herself back in time, to that horrible day in which her mother, Lara, had been crippled, her legs crushed by one of her husband's strange machines. Lucca had been just a child at that time, completely ignorant about mechanics and therefore impotent to help her mother.

But now she could change everything. She knew how to stop the machine. She had only to hurry up...Just some seconds left. She reached the controls, inserted the first two letters of the password...the young Lucca was crying...

The noise stopped. The machine remained still. Lara disengaged her gownfrom where it had been stuck and began weeping, holding her daughter close.

«Oh, Lucca, Lucca...!»

«Mommy!»

The grown-up Lucca returned unnoticed into her room, sat down for a while to retrieve her breath and then jumped into the gate again, emerging in her own time of ten years after.

Her companions were sleeping; none had seen her leave except Robo, who welcomed her back. But she was in a hurry.

«My mother! I must see her! I must go home! Tell them...» she murmured and ran away.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Truce Village - 1000 A.D.

«Oh, mommy!»

«Are you well, Lucca? You're acting so strange...Please let me go, dear, I have so many things to do...Oh, your father has closed himself in the study again...but I'm not hearing strange noises and I'm a bit worried. However, tell him that I'm expecting to go to the Fair, this evening, and I want to _dance_! I won't see him slumped somewhere like a sack of potatoes with a mug in his hand!»

«I'll tell him, mum»

Lucca looked again at her mother -standing and walking- not entirely believing her eyes. She quickly wiped away a tear and went to meet Taban, her father. He had a letter in his hands and seemed embarrassed that Lucca had seen it. She immediately understood what was happening.

«Grandmother» she said, coldly.

He nodded.

«She's well. And grandfather is, too»

«Why are they writing, then?»

«Because they _love_ us, Lucca. Is it so strange?»

«They have left not to return...I've never met them...»

«You have!»

«Yes, when I was _born_! I can't even remember them! Tell me, dad, pleaseDid they run away because of me?»

Taban sighed unhappily.

«There are many things you don't know and that I can't explain you...not yet. Someday you will understand. Please don't judge my parents. They were _forced_ to leave...This doesn't mean they didn't care. They did stay with me until I was independent, until I created my family...»

Lucca's voice was full of repressed anger.

«All right. So they were forced, it's not their fault. But they continue to write us and this makes you sad. I can't stand it!»

«Not sad...just nostalgic»

Lucca turned and went toward the door. She stopped.

«Where are they, anyway?»

«I don't know»

«Are you writing them back?»

«Of course. Can I say you greet them?»

She shrugged, without looking at him, and left.

He sighed, picked a pen and sheet of paper and thought intensely. The messenger bird was waiting outside the window.

_Dear mother and father,_

_Everybody's well here. I'm glad to hear you're fine too, and that my little sister is learning to read. I hope she will soon write me by herself. I saw Megara last month, and she stayed with us for two weeks._

Megara was his other sister, a girl the same age of his daughter. Lucca believed that girl to be her cousin. 

Taban shook his head, feeling unhappy and a bit guilty for having to hide so much from Lucca. Well, the day would come

_Lara is always..._

He had to stop again, disturbed by a sudden thought evoked by his wife's name. A dream about a machine he had actually built a long time ago and which had nearly caused a tragedy...He shook his head to dispel that unpleasant memory and resumed the letter.

_...is always impatient with me, saying I don't bring her out often enough. She's never tired. I really don't know how she can find so much energy..._

***

Ozzie's Fort - 600 A.D.

«You! Come!»

Auree turned and saw a Diablo addressing her an imperious gesture.

«What? Where...?»

The monster grabbed her arm.

«Come!»

«Yes, I'm coming! Let me put down this stuff...I'm ready!»

She followed the Diablo, too confused and curious to worry about what could happen. No Mystic had ever shown to notice her existence before, except to assign her a work and check the result.

She was led in a corridor where eight other girls were waiting. Auree realised immediately that nobody knew the purpose of the meeting, and exchanged slightly worried glances with the other slaves. She was growing nervous.

So, she was startled and almost jumped in the air when a door opened in front of her and Flea the Magician appeared, smiling.

Auree had never been so close to him, and it was really an impressive view. And a unique olfactory experience as well. He was surrounded by a cloud of perfume so intense that Auree, not accustomed to expensive essences, felt a bit light-headed...and weak-kneed, for other reasons.

But he was speaking.

«Well, girls...to put it bluntly, I have gathered you here because I need a new chambermaid»

He paused, looking around at the nine faces. He had painstakingly chosen the best fine-looking women among the slaves; the task had taken him more than a week and that silly Gorgl had not refrained to comment on the decision, in a very stupid way.

I want to see beauty around me, is it so strange? Flea had told the laughing Hench. And, after having seen the unpleasant places in which those girls had to consume their existence, he had declared also that he had to give beauty a chance to emerge from the ugliness of slavery. Then he had given up the hope of making Gorgl understand.

And perhaps the only truth was -but he was only dimly aware of this- that he wanted to give a chance to a _certain_ girl who had enticed him with her strange behaviour and her sad eyes.

Auree had noticed that beautiful women surrounded her, all better looking than she was...or so she believed. And surely a lot younger than she was. Not that she had paid any attention to other slaves after Flea had entered the corridor.

He was wearing a yellow-orange shirt and long trousers of the same colour, and a white large cloak with purple streaks along the hem. His deep-red hair was tied up in a long braid that swung with each movement of his head. Auree's attention was caught by his bodice, that kind of shirt that leaves its owner's arm and shoulders completely naked. Her thoughts wandered. Those things looked genuine, but...

_It can't be...it must be padded or something.._.

Then she forced herself to look elsewhereand the delicate beauty of Flea's face enchanted her. The most fascinating thing was that the face -in some inexplicable way- seemed incongruous, contradictory. From the neck downward, Flea's body looked entirely feminine, but there was something masculine in his expression, in his eyes, and the global picture was disturbing.

Auree gathered herself enough to remember that she shouldn't stare, and dutifully lowered her gaze. She had already lost part of Flea's speech.

«...And it will be a heavy, demanding job...because, unlike other inhabitants of this castle, I like cleanliness, tidiness...I've heard that some of you had already worked as chambermaid at some rich lady's place, so you know what I'm talking about»

Five girls were shifting their gaze and shuffling their feet on the floor at the point about the heavy job. Auree disapproved of them. She would have _paid_ to have the opportunity to work for _him_...

«Well, I hope you understand that this is a delicate task and I won't press it on anyone against her will. I'm asking for a volunteer»

...No, she wouldn't. It was impossible. Definitely. She hadn't the nerve...she wasn't even able to sustain his gaze.

Just two of the remaining four girls had raised a hand. Flea turned and moved a step toward them. The farthest one withdrew. Flea sighed and examined the last one: a blushing girl that wasn't looking at him and seemed scared to death.

His plan had worked. It was _she_.

The Mystic quickly scanned the servant. She looked better than he remembered.

«You? Your name, dear?» he asked, in an encouraging tone.

She bobbed a curtsey.

«Auree, sir,» she answered, _really_ hoping that was the right title «I'm working in the kitchen, sir»

She wasn't entirely aware of how she had put herself in such a mess. She didn't even remember to have raised her hand. Too bad the floor wasn't going to split open and swallow her...

«You _can_ refuse, you know. Even now...nothing bad will happen» he whispered, only for her ears.

That intimate tone, like they were already old friends, was really strange, and confused her further. Auree dared to lift her eyes although she could distinctly feel her face grow hot. Flea was fractionally taller than she. He smiled, a marvellous, friendly, warm smile. That, and his gentle voice, conquered her.

«No, sir. I acceptsir»

Her voice sounded a bit squeaky.

He nodded.

«All right. Thank you, girls. You may all return to your work and you, Auree, will instead gather your belongings from the dormitory and come to my apartments. I will assign you another room, near mine»

He gestured one of the Diablos that were waiting in the corridor, surrounding the nine slaves.

«You, accompany her. See you later, Auree»

The monster looked at Auree with scarce sympathy.

Flea retired, and so did almost everyone. Only another girl remained and stopped Auree, speaking in an urgent tone.

«What kind of initiative is this? What do you think you are doing?»

«I'm trying to enhance my position. I'm fed up with washing dishes» she answered bluntly, annoyed from the other woman's angry behaviour.

«In _that_ way? My girl, really can't you imagine what does he need a chambermaid _for_? Haven't you heard about that Yulanna?»

Auree gave the woman a hard stare.

«Weren't you always saying that usually men like _him_ aren't interested in women?»

«Usually! But...who knows? He isn't even human, after all!»

«So, if you don't know, you shouldn't criticise people!»

Auree walked away quickly, followed by the Diablo.


	7. Chapter 7

****

****

**Chapter 7**

Ozzie's Fort - 600 A.D.

The new room had been a big surprise to Auree. It was small but clean, with a bed, a table, a chair, a wardrobe and a fireplace. Apart from the door she had used to enter the room from the corridor, there was another one in the left wall and what appeared to be a closet in the right corner. She had dropped her pitiable bunch of clothes over the bed to examine the place and when she had opened the smaller door in the corner expecting a built-in wardrobe or something like that, she had been taken aback.

It was a tiny bathroom, complete of everything.

She had never had a bathroom for herself in her whole life. And she hadn't even had a bedroom for herself in the last twenty years. Yes, from the sad day in which she had to leave the house she loved to follow her mother into a new one...a single-room one for poor people...

_Well, Yulanna,_ she sighed between herself, _how could I blame you if you've fallen for this?_

But Flea's quarters -that she could access directly through the door in the left wall- stunned her with their own sheer magnificence. There was a spacious parlour, a large bedroom, and a huge bathroom bigger than Auree's whole chamber.

There were tapestries and painting hanging from the walls, rich furniture, coloured candles that spread a fruited scent everywhere.

And Flea, of course. He was sitting like a king amidst that opulence. Or more like a princess, to be honest. He immediately stood up when Auree entered and came toward her with a proud smile.

«Welcome, dear. This is my humble place...what do you think of it?»

«I-impressive, sir»

«Yeah...I'm striving hard to impress my guests, you know. Come closer, I won't bite. Do you like your room? Are you lacking something? Is everything all right? Good...»

«May I...ask a thing...sir?»

«Speak freely»

«What happened to...your previous chambermaid, sir?»

At first, Flea seemed puzzled by the question, then he remembered he had talked about a chambermaid.

«Oh, never had one. Just these annoying and inept Imps. Auree, listen: your work will be one of responsibility. You'll have to organise...Not cleaning up and washing, not you _personally_. Imps will do the physical work, the heavy one, understood? But you'll need to supervise them continuously because otherwise they'll do something wrong and damage my things»

«But...sir, you've spoken about a heavy job...I thought...» she protested.

The Mystic smiled slyly.

«I said that to frighten people. That's all, Auree. Take your time to get used to the place, you can start working tomorrow»

The girl looked at him in amazement. _Take your time? Tomorrow?_

«Tomorrow, sir?»

«Yeah, you'll bring me my breakfast from the kitchen...at eight thirty, please. Ah, I like sleeping! It's good for health, you know, and what is good for health is good for beauty»

Auree nodded slowly. Flea was staring at her with a slight worried frown. Then he sighed.

«Well, I must tell you. Don't take offence, but...are _these_ your best clothes?»

Auree lowered her gaze, quite ashamed. Entering those lavish rooms she had already felt ugly and badly dressed.

«Yes, sir» she whispered.

Flea shook his head.

«No, that's not right. I know it isn't your fault, you were working in the kitchen and all...but now you must take care of yourself. You'll be part of the ambience, if you get what I mean...Come with me»

Auree followed him in the bedroom. Flea opened one of the three big wardrobes and chose some clothing, tossing them on the bed.

«Being beautiful is a full-time job. You aren't believing that I can look like this without effort, are you?» he said, mischievously.

_Some_ effort was necessary to Auree, not to snicker.

«You can laugh» he said unexpectedly, re-emerging from the wardrobe, and winked, to her embarrassment.

He had chosen another blouse and was examining some trousers.

«We are of the same size, I think. Would you like this? Or that...what do you think? Let me see...»

He confronted the shirt he was holding with Auree's pale incarnate.

«Not bad. Do you wear trousers? They are very comfortable, especially when you are working...»

«Never tried them. But, sir...!»

«Yes? Ah, I'm afraid my shoes won't fit you. But my shoemaker can take care of your feet, and next time my tailor will come to the castle...she usually comes here twice a month...you can ask her for some...you know...underwear. She can do neat masterpieces with laces. But what were you saying, dear?»

«I can't accept these things! They are yours!» she protested.

she asked herself _Is what he's wearing?_

She felt herself blushing slightly.

«I have already worn them enough. I have so many dresses, robes, skirts...you need them more than I do. And...well, I would be very, _very_ pleased to see you wearing my clothes» he added, with a secretive smile.

Auree felt like she was somehow missing the point. There were strange undertones in the way Flea had pronounced the word . She preferred not to investigate.

«I will try them...thank you, sir. You...are so generous»

«Are you frightened by me, Auree?»

She opened her mouth to answer, but hesitated.

«Or you are always so bashful?»

«Y-yes...»

He smiled openly, picking the clothes and putting them in Auree's unresisting hands.

«Never mind. It's your temperament, don't apologise for this. You can go. Ask for your supper in the kitchen and...rest well, dear. See you tomorrow»

«Good night, sir» she whispered and hurriedly left forgetting the curtsey.

***

The day after, Flea found Auree perched on the top of a ladder, busy into checking the content of a high wardrobe.

«My goodness! What are you doing? I told you not to do heavy works! Pay attention...it's dangerous!»

«It's all ri---» Auree tried to say, but she hastily had to hold on the rickety ladder not to fall down.

Flea ran promptly to her aid.

«This thing needs a fixing! Please, come down...Oh, you are wearing _this_...Good choice. You look lovely»

«Thank you, sir» Auree dutifully answered, a little puzzled by the delighted smile she saw on Flea's face.

He was under her, holding the ladder.

She resumed her work, peering inside the cupboard and moving various stuff around.

«I'm almost finished...»

She suddenly realized that he was looking up her skirt, and froze. Seeing admiration in someone's eyes was a new and pleasant thing for her...but she felt uncomfortable, she didn't like to show her body. She had shapely legs, but, unfortunately, very hairy ones; although she used to spend a lot of time shaving them with care, she was always unsure about the result. Well, Flea seemed to enjoy the sight anyway...

She slowly descended and faced her master. He was wearing a skirt too, a light blue one. She observed his legs with a bit of envy. His skin had a smooth, never-touched-by-a-razor look. Perhaps he was hairless everywhere...

_Auree! Shame on you!_ she cried in the silence of her mind.

«...hello? Auree, I'm talking to you»

«Sorry, sir»

«I won't see you injured in some stupid accident. Call for the Imps for this sort of things, will you?»

«Yes, sir»

_As if I knew how hairy a man usually is..._

He winked. He hadn't missed her glances toward his legs. She blushed.

«B-but...the Imps don't seem willing to obey me, sir»

«They are stupid, you have to repeat your orders many times...the only things they can do by themselves is jumping around showing you their tongue...They are born like this. Well, you can go now. Remember, you're here to _organise_»

She curtseyed and left. Back into her room, she sighed heavily, irritated at the memory of other slaves' mindless chattering. She began to walk around, suddenly enraged.

_That kind of man, eh? Doesn't like women, eh? It's not what I saw in his eyes! He was..._

She stopped and tried to calm down, sitting on the bed.

_Be honest with yourself, Auree!_ she thought _What are you doing here?_

She checked her legs. She couldn't see hairs anywhere. Good.

_Organising, of course._


	8. Chapter 8

I'm back!  
With this soppy, slightly authobiografical chapter...a piece of junk, really.  
Edited by my greatest fan, AnGi Kitty!

**Chapter 8**

Ozzie's Fort - 600 A.D.

Auree put the tray with her breakfast on the table and sat down. She took a sip of warm milk. Someone knocked at the inner door.

«Auree? May I enter?» Flea's voice asked from the corridor.

The fact that her master was waiting for permission was absurd enough. Auree jumped up from the chair, nearly overturning the tray, and hurriedly went to the door.

«Of course, sir»

«Are you well? You've frightened me this night»

«I'm really sorry...I must have cried really loudly if you have heard me from your bedroom...»

«No, I was in the parlour looking for biscuits. Sometimes I wake in the middle of the night suddenly hungry. But...please, eat your breakfast, dear»

«There's just one chair and...»

«I will sit here, on your bed. Don't worry. Well, perhaps talking about what happened could make you feel better. A frighful nightmare?»

Auree looked paler and more tired than usual.

«It wasn't a nightmare. It was...a memory. I...»

She hesitated, wondering if her master really wanted to hear about that. Flea was listening intently, so she went ahead.

«I was dreaming about my old house, the one in which I was born. I had to leave from there when I was eight. It's silly...but I've never managed to get over this. Sometimes I dream about it and always cry...»

«Why had you been forced to leave?» Flea asked gently.

Auree had never talked about her story. She spoke uncertainly at first, but then found her courage and ended up throwing out all the burdens that had weighed on her heart for more than twenty years.

«My father was a drunkard, he didn't work and used to steal my mother's money to go out and drink. One day, she drove him out...she believed we could live better without him...she was a teacher, a good one. But soon she found that her husband hadn't paid the rent for more than a year. And the school asked her to resign»

«A teacher! Now I understand why you speak and behave like an educated girl...I was surprised. Nevertheless, I can't see why the school did dismiss your mother»

«Are you joking? A woman who had left her husband...as a _teacher_? The entire village revolted against her, it was a scandal»

«But she had a reason...»

«No matter. We had to depart. My mother's life was ruined, she never find another good job again, and...I don't want to speak about her. But do you know what the worst part is? My father died just three years after that. She could have simply _waited_...and she would have been a respected widow!»

Copious tears were rolling down Auree's cheeks.

«He wasn't a bad person, you know. Just...weak...I don't hate him. But I will never, _never_ forgive him for having deprived me of my house! It was...all my I had...»

Her voice broke.

Flea rose from the bed to approach her. He offered Auree a silky handkerchief, putting a gentle hand on her shaking shoulder, and spoke softly.

«I'm really sorry. I know what it's like, losing everything...»

He sighed.

«I have a similar pastI grew up alone with my mother, exactly like you, until»

«Really? And...your father?»

«Never knew who he was. My mother never spoke about him. She was a powerful magician, but...a bit mad, in a sense. She liked researching strange and new things. One day she tried a dangerous experiment...and failed. I was in the woods that morning, looking for herbs...I heard the explosion from a mile away. I was only ten so I was sent to an orphanage»

Auree looked up at him.

«Oh...it must have been terrible»

He shrugged, smiling.

«It could have been worse if I hadn't already known some magic...but I could defend myself. I remained there for about six months, then Ozzie came. He wanted to find out if I had inherited some of my mother's talent...of course I had! So he brought me here, to study and work for him. He was preparing an army...some deranged project of his. Well, I found Slash already here, practising as a swordsman...and then little Magus fell from the sky. Oh, beware of Slash, he's dangerous...and a sick pervert. Always spying on me hoping to see me undressed. I mean, I was a _child_! I had to adopt harsh measures: I threw a fireball at him»

«A...fireball?!»

«The first time I tried that spell, and it worked! I missed Slash, but burned down half of the room...he never touched me again»

He giggled mischievously.

«Even if I liked men...and I _don't_...I wouldn't consider Mr. Blueface worthy of my attention!»

Auree couldn't help laughing between tears.

«So you _can_ smile!» Flea exclaimed, agreeably surprised «You should do it more often, you look beautiful!»

«I'd like to throw fireballs» she admitted.

«Well, it can be useful sometimes...but, believe me, it doesn't solve all your problems in life. Are you feeling better, darling?»

Auree was fidgeting with the handkerchief, not knowing if she could return it now that it was soaked.

«Yes. But you don't have to worry about me, sir»

«Yes, I do! You are under my responsibility! Being a Mystic doesn't mean being uncaring and cruel. Not always, anyway. Unfortunately, there are people like Ozzie and Slash who are inclined to abuse of their power. Haven't you heard about Slash killing dozens of slaves, and in a horrible way? I won't be surprised to see some human get him, sooner or later. It would serve him well. I mean...of course, I _can_ kill people...on a battlefield...It's rather different, don't you agree?»

«Y-yes, sir»

Flea lowered his gaze, clearly embarrassed.

«You know, our races...are enemies...» he feebly added.

Auree nodded vigorously.

«I understand, sir»

«I hope I haven't killed some friend of yours...»

«No, I hadn't any»

He sighed.

«And I was trying to say something comforting!»

«You succeeded»

«I always speak too much. I must go now. You...finish your breakfast! You'll get ill if you don't eat enough!»

He picked up a biscuit from the tray and neared it to Auree's mouth, as to feed her. She hesitated for a little, then bit the biscuit from Flea's hand.

Only in the middle of that night Auree awoke -suddenly realizing that he had told her about his sexual preferences.

***

Well, actually, the booming of a violent storm had awakened her.

_What if...what if I went to his room now...saying I'm afraid of thunder?_ she thought, all curled up under her blankets in a chilly room.

Another kind of girl could have used such a pretext. Not she, although she felt sure her master wouldn't have her turned away. Perhaps he would be _pleased_ instead, seeing her in the middle of that stormy night.

Yes, another kind of girl shouldn't have found herself stuck in such a silly life, in the first place. Another kind of girl shouldn't have been still a virgin -against her will- at the ridiculous age of...well, that wasn't really important, only _annoying_.

Auree could imagine Flea so effectively she could almost smell his perfume...

_Ah, I could open that door and walk through his parlour...enter his bedroom...probably he's sleeping, wearing something white...or black...but surely silk, with laces...his long hair untied and scattered on the pillow, his perfect pretty face relaxed, and..._

She knew she shouldn't start to dream. That sort of fancies can be fun when you are just bored or tormented by some rather _physical_ need. But if you are actually in love with a real person who doesn't know -or doesn't care- and you think you will never have him or her...it's _painful_.

She knew it very well. She had already experienced it. Even Auree had been in love once. She had had the great courage to actually tell him; he had declined, politely but firmly. 

She _knew_ that vain longing makes you cry and lose sleep.

But she hadn't been able to refuse herself a new hope. Because from that experience -sad as it had been- she had learnt that being in love was _wonderful_, despite the risks.

Once you have opened your heart it doesn't want to stay closed anymore.

***

Auree was partly right. Flea was actually wearing a white nightdress with a lot of lace, and had undone his braid. But he wasn't asleep. He was staring in the dark, thinking...of Auree. Because surely the little servant was scared by thunder, she was the kind of girl who would most likely always be afraid of loud noises. The kind of girl who wouldn't like to see him entering her bedroom in the middle of the night, though.

He chuckled.

_No matter how much she's wanting me to do something like that...should I really try it, she'd scream and possibly throw a shoe at me..._

Of course, Auree would never take any initiative without some strong encouragement. An old-fashioned girl.

_Ah...I like her so much._

The storm was subsiding. He closed his eyes, still smiling.


	9. Chapter 9

I don't update often enough, I know...sorry!

**Chapter 9**

Northern Ruins - 600 A.D.

The companions entered the haunted ruined castle cautiously. The looked around for a while, then Marle's high-pitched voice sounded loud and angry.

«That swindler! He had repaired only _parts_ of the floor! Look at those holes!»

It hadn't been easy to find someone to repair the castle. It had been inaccessible before, because of the large holes on the floor. But the local carpenter had lost his tools. For some mysterious reasons there were no other tools in the whole world in 600 A.D. 

They had looked everywhere, hoping to find not only the tools but also a useful way to spend their money...During their adventures they had collected a lot of money, but now that they had the best equipment which could be bought and there were no new shops, the coins were only a dead-weight in their pouches. But, no...

It had been necessary to travel forward to 1000 A.D., borrow the tools from another drunken carpenter -who looked suspiciously alike to the one in Middle Ages- and bring them in the past.

«We can't go upstairs!» Marle was protesting «And he required to be paid in advance!»

«But we can go downstairs» Crono observed, calmly «That's an improvement»

He walked toward the stairs and everyone followed.

In the basement there was a large gravestone. Glenn ran toward it and kneeled down.

«Cyrus...» he whispered.

There was something written on the headstone.

**_Cyrus_**

**_the fool who challenged Magus _**

**_rests here_**

_What a nice epitaph_ Crono thought, bewildered, and nervously eyed Magus. But the sorcerer's pale face betrayed no emotions at all.

«Cyrus, I hath returned» Glenn continued, in an almost inaudible voice «I shall honour my promise to thee!»

Lucca and Marle stepped away from him, half expecting the frogman to attack his old enemy.

But he didn't. Another strange thing happened instead.

A white, evanescent ghost appeared.

«_Glenn... Thank you...for making the journey here_» he said, without actually opening his mouth...well, the _shadow_ of his mouth.

Marle bit her fingers as not to scream in terror. Although the knight was a friendly ghost, he emanated the most chilling cold breeze she had ever experienced, and his face was a mask of sorrow.

Glenn was quietly crying.

«Cyrus... Thou must...think ill of me»

Crono would have sworn to have seen Magus smirk at this point. But perhaps it was just the effect of the candlelight.

The ghost slowly shook his head.

«_On the contrary! You have come far, my friend! When Magus defeated me, I thought of all those whom I have left behind. King Guardia, Queen Leene, and of course, you...Your skill and dedication is superior! I can rest now, knowing that everyone is in good hands. Good bye, my friend!_»

Glenn hurriedly got onto his feet, a hand raised toward the spectre -who was slowly fading.

«Cyrus, wait! I...»

But Cyrus was gone, with a last recommendation.

_«The Queen...Look after Queen Leene. Alas, and...farewell...G...le...n...n..._»

Glenn slumped again on his knees, a heartwrenching wail escaped his lips.

«CYYYRUUUS!!!»

He fell with his face in the dirt and remained still.

There was a long embarrassed silence.

«Is not this the story in which one of the heroes die of a heart attack, right?» Lucca whispered to his comrades.

«Nope» Magus sighed.

***

Ozzie's Fort - 600 A.D.

Auree was exhausted. She had been standing and walking all the day, her back and legs ached. She softly knocked at her master's bedroom door, to ask him if she could retire.

She was allowed in immediately. Flea, sitting at the vanity, was untying his braid.

«You look pale, Auree» he said, before she could speak «Are you well?»

She nodded. Flea had loosened his hair, passing his tapering fingers through itAuree stared at him, mesmerised by his gesture. Flea was sitting on a high stool, nevertheless his hair -a rich, silky, purple-red hair- nearly touched the ground, his pointed ears -his sole non-human features- sticking out from it, adorned with many golden earrings.

Lost in thought, she barely noticed that her master was telling her something, with a brush in his hand. Probably he wanted Auree to take care of his hair. The servant moved as in a dream, took the brush and gingerly began to comb Flea's hair. It was the most pleasant thing she had ever touched.

«I want you to know, Auree, that I'm quite satisfied with you. You have been working for me for a month now, and I'm already wondering how I could have lived without your aid»

«Thank you, sir. I'm trying to do my best»

«What about your dreams, Auree?» Flea suddenly asked in a lower tone, looking at her reflection in the mirror.

«My...dreams?»

«Yes. I wonder what you should have done, who you should have been if...well, you won't believe me, but I'm feeling guilty for you being a slave and everything. I can't grant you freedom, but perhaps I could give you something else»

«I...don't know»

«What did you dream before getting captured? What kind of life did you want?»

Auree thought hard about it.

«Nothing...I wasn't dreaming, sir. Just surviving»

Flea looked puzzled.

«Not wanting anything is the surest way not to achieve a thing...» he warned her.

«True. I was unhappy, alone and useless. Now...everything has changed»

«Please don't tell me you are happier as a slave!»

«But it's true. Now I have a purpose»

«Which one? To serve me?»

«Yes, and I'm honoured»

Auree blushed. She had talked without thinking.

«How old are you?» Flea asked.

Auree hesitated.

«I'm afraid I'm older than you think...I'm almost thirty, sir»

The Mystic's eyes widened in surprise.

«You look no older than twenty-two...twenty-four perhaps»

Auree nodded, not particularly pleased by that. She seemed younger, yesbut not because she was pretty. She had never been pretty. When looking at her, everybody believed she was young becausethere was a strong aura of helplessness and vulnerability around her that people usually associated with youth. Actually, Auree wasn't so weak, but her appearance had always been deceiving. Once, her mother had described her with a really significant comparison.

_You're a wet hen_

«And I never had been a chambermaid before» she added with a sigh.

«So you lied to me, eh? No matter. I'm older than you, though. I use my magic to keep myself young. What should be the use of magic if you couldn't do this kind of things?»

«Oh...I've often wondered if your beauty comes from magic...»

«Oh no, not in that sense. I can change my appearance, but it's a very _expensive_ spell...and lasts just for few hours. No, this is my real body and face! All you see comes from Nature's generosity...and a skilled use of cosmetics. Nothing artificial. How old do you think I am?»

«Don't know...perhaps about my age...or younger»

He lowered his voice to a whisper.

«I'm forty-three»

«Oh! Really? And...you can keep yourself young...forever?»

«Don't exaggerate...I can slow down my aging, that's all»

«By sucking other people's life force?»

«_What?!_»

«Sorry. Read it in a book»

«So you like reading! You _have_ a hobby in your life!»

«Well, I used to read stupid stories about fantastic worlds, warriors and magicians...not to think about my reality, you know...»

«So you _were_ dreaming»

«Yes, but...like a child could dream...about impossibilities. Not as an _adult_ person should dream, working and making choices and so on»

«Why didn't you do that?»

«Fear. Idleness»

They looked at each other in the mirror.

«How sad» Flea sighed at last.

«Could I ask a thing, sir?»

«Yes»

«Are there many Mystics...with a nearly human appearance, like you? No offense...I didn't see any others»

«Well, we are not many. But there are others similar to humans, yes. A small clan. Mystic empire rules over various races. And...»

He seemed at first angry and then sad at this thought.

«Other races don't like us. They even say that...that we could be partially human, after all!»

«And it's possible?»

«Of course, everything is possible» he admitted, «When is you birthday?»

Auree blinked, surprised by this question.

«Oh...I will become thirty in about three weeks...the twenty-second of the month»

«I want to give you a present. What would you like?»

If she had been accustomed to speaking freely, Auree would have had a sarcastic tongue.

«A permanent leg hair remover» she burst out.

She couldn't have said if Flea was more puzzled by the nature of the request or by his servant's tone, but she feared to have offended him until the Mystic exploded in loud laughter.

«My God! Humans have hairy legs! I didn't know! Let me see!»

«NO! I mean...I shaved them, there's nothing to be seen»

«Well, I could really work on it, you know?»

Auree realized that she had stopped brushing Flea's hair and hurriedly resumed her task. But her master turned toward her.

Flea took slowly the brush from Auree's hand, and deliberately touched her fingers. The servant took a step away, while the Mystic left the stool and stood to face her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and the other one under Auree's chin, lifting her face gently. He smiled, his eyes twinkling.

_Is he going to kiss me?_ she asked herself, _Yes, probably..._

He was approaching. She didn't know what to do.

_No, it must be really a woman, no man could be so beautiful, no man can have a hair like this...she's making fun of me. For her private reasons, she pretends to be a male...perhaps Mystic society is so sexist that she had to do this in order to have career opportunities...or...she likes other women and tries to lure them...Wait! Luring women acting and dressing like a woman? It doesn't make sense. What kind of girl could be attracted by...oh, yes. Now _I_ am the pervert, here._

All this reasoning took half a second. Auree was lost into the Mystic's brown eyes. Voices in her head were annoying, scolding her as if she were a little girl...

_Do you really want to kiss another female? Do you really want to kiss a non-human creature? Do you really want to kiss an enemy of your people, one who has taken human as slaves and...?_

She screamed in her mind and silenced any opposition.

__

She closed her eyes and prepared to enjoy the first real kiss of her life.

She enjoyed it immensely.


	10. Chapter 10

A short chapter...Angi Kitty says I'm torturing my poor fans :))

****

**Chapter 10**

West Cape – 1000 A.D.

_What a silly thing_, Crono was telling himself, while pouring soda on the ground, in front of a tombstone.

_I've talked to this man minutes ago...and now he has been dead for four hundred years._

Toma the Adventurer had asked them to offer a bottle of his favourite drink to his own grave.

«Rather disturbing, isn't it?» Lucca whispered, voicing her friends' thought.

Travelling through time could be sad, after all...talking to people knowing they're already dead...On the other hand, they were also still alive in another time and you could visit them, and this was comforting. What a mess.

The companions jumped away from the gravestone and Marle shrieked seeing Toma's ghost appearing in front of them. But he was smiling, and seemed carefree as ever. Perhaps afterlife wasn't so bad. Perhaps for Toma it was like some friendly pub that never closed, where he could always have free soda.

«Thank you, friends!» he said with a large grin «I've got good news for you. I can tell you where the Rainbow Shell is...and I will open the place for you. But you must come back to my time, because the isle doesn't exist anymore in this era»

They followed his advice and soon they were running through gloomy caves and corridors underground.

«So strange. It's similar to a prehistoric castle» Lucca observed, just some seconds before meeting a pack of angry dinosaurs.

***

The final battle with the bigger monster hadn't been so hard after all. And the Rainbow Shell was surely worth fighting for it. It was beautiful, sparkling even in the dim light of the cavern, enlightening the companions' faces with bright and changing colours. They stared at it in awe for several minutes.

Then Crono turned away to examine the small mouth of the cave. He looked again at the enormous Shell.

«We can't take it» he murmured, «It doesn't pass through the corridor»

«No?» Marle asked with sarcasm «I thought our backpacks were bottomless...We are carrying _tons_ of equipment, why can't we take the Shell too?»

Lucca touched the wall around the cave.

«We need help to dig out another passage...or to enlarge the existing one. Let's go to the King's castle!»

«Of course, we have magical powers, but not a shovel or a pickaxe...well...» Marle grumbled, following the group. She had been sulky all day.

Crono was the last to leave the cave.

«Thank you, Toma» he whispered, and then he smiled.

Once again, Toma had asked for a drink before giving him some information.

*******

Ozzie's Fort - 600 A.D.

Auree had met the tailor and the shoemaker, both humanoid Mystics like Flea himself. 

If she had ever doubted that androgynous appearance could be common among those people, the shoemaker had reassured her. He was a muscular man with a long mustache, speaking with a deep, rumbling voice. Only the unusual colour of his eyes –yellow- and, of course, his pointed ears showed he wasn't human.

The tailor, on the other hand, was a tiny old woman who liked Auree at first sight and treated her like a grand-daughter.

Surely Flea was more feminine than those two. 

_Oh, great. He's actually more feminine than I am!_

But when Auree saw her own reflected image on a great mirror in the corridor, she was surprised. She wasn't aware of how much she had changed in those last three weeks. She was wearing a stylish silky dress -made especially for her-, her face embellished with a carefully applied make-up, her brown hair well combed. She even wore a silver necklace and some rings, nothing really valuable but shiny cute little objects that she liked so much.

She looked quite astonishing, almost unrecognizable.

Flea had personally taught her how to use mysterious items like lipstick, powder and mascara.

Everything had begun one morning when Auree had entered her master's bedroom to change bedsheets. Flea was there, applying mascara on his eyelashes. The scene was so similar to something buried down in the farthest of Auree's childhood memories -her mother, in their happiest time- that she had stared in fascination. So he had invited her to sit besides him at the vanity, explaining the importance of cosmetics (he always talked a lot!) because beauty should be observed in all aspects etc.

«I know many people criticize me for using this stuff. They even laugh. But, who cares, I'm beautiful and they're not! Tell me, Auree, how rough and ugly human males must be, if elegance is always mistaken for effeminacy?»

While talking, Flea had opened a small jar full of some white substance and had begun absentmindedly smearing it on Auree's face. She had been too surprised to protest.

The cream was cold on her skin and smelled strangely.

«I've already told you about those cretins who somehow managed to defeat Magus, right? Well, when they entered my part of the castle, I was ready to teach them a lesson...I was following them around disguised as a bat»

He had smiled, pleased by that memory, and had taken other cosmetics from the table.

«Can you close your eyes just a second, dear? Good. They hadn't noticed me, the fools! They fought a monster I had put on my throne, they easily won and began celebrating, really believing to have defeated _me_, the great Flea! How stupid! So, I appeared from the air in front of them...their faces! _That_ was a dramatic entrance! But...the silly frogman ruined everything, saying something like: Beware this woman! and so on...You can open your eyes, Auree, but stand still, please...I got very angry indeed. I yelled: Hey, are you blind or what? I'm a GUY, you know...Do you think the problem was settled? No, they dared to insist: But it's exterior is that of a female!, like I could be wrong about myself...Open your mouth slightly, will you? Those are humans, breaking into other people's houses and attacking without a reason, and believing _they_ are the good ones! I can't stand them...Done! Look, Auree!»

She had looked at the mirror and had seen the pleasant face of an attractive woman.

«Make-up shouldn't be too...showy. Just a little thing...but it makes a difference, can't you notice?»

She had simply nodded, enchanted by her own image.

Flea had then provided her with some cosmetics and she was learning to use them. But now, before that mirror in the corridor, she was asking herself some questions.

_Am I really doing this just for myself? Not to please _him_?_

Ah, it was fun, however...

She sighed, her peace of mind suddenly ruined by an annoying thought. _Nobody_ was going to believe that she hadn't done anything to deserve her master's presents. She could hardly believe it herself. Flea...well, he _had_ asked her something, some kisses...not exactly asked, though. Sometimes, while he was talking to her, he suddenly went and gently kissed her, without a word. She let him do it. Why not? It was so satisfyingShe felt euphoric and light-hearted like a teenager with her sweet secret.

She realized she was blushing at the memory and got angry because she was walking among a lot of people and they could notice. Well, there had been very intimate kisses. She had never ever _known_ that kisses could be like that. 

_How ignorant_, she blamed herself, _How many things you don't know, stupid old girl_.

When her mother had explained her the mystery of birth, she hadn't mentioned kisses, caresses or whatsoever. She hadn't even mentioned _love_. Only many years later Auree had discovered -from other girl's comments- that those things could be pleasant. She had nurtured an abstract desire of experiencing them, but...only with someone really _special_.

And now, what was happening...A bright hope abruptly enlightened her. Perhaps...perhaps Flea was courting her. Perhaps he was a gentleman, he was waiting because he didn't want to abuse his position.

_Stupid woman, stupid Auree_, she repeated, fighting the urge to slap herself _Don't delude yourself, he's a monster, he doesn't care about you!_

Ah, kisses...his strawberry-flavoured lips, his soft tongue...She couldn't stop a warm feeling of happiness from filling her heart. She didn't want to. 

But while she was hurriedly walking toward Flea's quarters, she met the worst person she could have seen in that delicate conjuncture. 

Yulanna. The ominously fat woman nodded to Auree. She nodded in response, her dreaming smile quickly fading. Then Yulanna smirked, showing horrible yellow teeth, and winked.

_Who am I_, Auree thought, _Don't judge her, don't judge_...

She was not judging, but she couldn't help but thinking of Yulanna kissing Gorgl and almost retched. She scuttled away.

And things worsened when she reached her chamber. That Hench, Gorgl, Flea's chief bodyguard, was with her master in the parlour. Auree could hear them talking, the affected tones of Flea's voice sharply contrasting with the Hench rough speech. They were discussing something about soldiers and rotas, when the Hench suddenly changed issue.

«And your chambermaid» he asked, in a heavy allusive tone «Is she _learning_, eh?»

There was a long silence.

«She is a delightful girl» Flea said, nonchalantly «Just a bit too self-conscious»

«I saw her...what a change! If you like that kind of female, of course. Is she _experienced_?»

Flea sounded annoyed. He pretended not to have understood the meaning of the question.

«Well, no. But...she works hard, and I am content...You now have your duty, right?»

«...yeah, if you like strange things, sir, who am I to...»

«Yes, strange things unknown by you, like having a bath every day and changing my clothes! You have smeared mud everywhere with your filthy boots and you smell of rotten eggs! Go away!»

«Yessir!» Gorgl answered, in mocking reverence.

Auree heard him stomping toward the main door of Flea's apartments.

«Perhaps Yulanna can teach her a thing or two...»

Flea sounded enraged.

«_Out of my place!_»

Auree sat on her bed and sighed, almost in tears.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Sun Keep - 2300 A.D.

They were pissed off. Definitely.

First of all, the Rainbow Shell had proved to be a great nuisance: returning to 1000 A.D., they had found that King Guardia XXXIII -Marle's father- had been put under trial by a fake Chancellor who was actually a monster and had hidden the Shell in the basement...They had got to find the Shell, break in the tribunal room through the window, fight the monster...

Then, at the End of Time, Lucca had had the infamous idea to ask Gaspar:  
«But, if we can carry items through time and gates, why shouldn't we bring some food to the starving people in the future?»

So Gaspar had began one more time his obnoxious many paths lay open to you rambling speech. They had run away without any chance to rest and recover, and had landed in the 2300 A.D. in front of the Sun Keep.

«Wasn't it a _palace_ in 12000 B.C.?» Marle had observed «Why it's a cave, now?»

«Perhaps it had been pushed underground when it fell from the sky» Lucca had explained.

They had fought another hideous monster that they weren't expecting, a self-declaring Son of Sun which nobody had ever heard of. It had been a harsh battle; the companions had had to retreat many times before discovering what the monster weak point was.

But they had succeeded, at last. They had taken the Sunstone -that had become a Moonstone, its power exhausted- and had brought it in the Prehistoric era to recharge it...and when they had returned to the future sure to find the Stone empowered again, it had _gone_.

«Please, don't tell me we went through all this just to leave the Stone to someone else!» Marle sighed.

«The Sunstone had been taken away no more than 1300 years ago» Magus said, out of the blue.

«Ayla no run! Ayla fight!» the cave woman yelled, as she always did.

None spoke while they were travelling toward 1000 A.D. again.

«Look! Stop here!» Lucca abruptly cried.

«What?» Crono asked, stopping the Epoch above Porre village.

«A strange light flickering on that house» Robo pointed out, flatly.

They landed.

«It's the Mayor house, Crono observed.

«That hideous man who ask everyone to play the chicken! He won't give us anything!» Marle objected.

She sighed again, realising that there was no choice.

What happened then is a known tale. Porre Mayor was greed and selfish because of some ancestor's bad experiences. The companions had to travel back in time, be nice with the Mayor's grand-grand-grandmother so she would teach the value of generosity to her children...and so on.

When they went back to the End of Time, hungry and horribly tired, Gaspar was sleeping. They moved with the greatest care not to upset him.

***

Ozzie's Fort - 600 A.D.

Hearing the bell ringing from Flea's bedroom, Auree answered quickly. But her master wasn't there, apparently. She hesitated on the threshold, until Flea called her again.

«I'm here, dear, in the bathroom»

Auree then noticed the clothes, abandoned on a chair, and became aware of a splashing sound from the bathroom. She blushed for no reason at all.

_What's strange? He takes a bath every night before going to bed_, she reminded herself.

She neared the other door, which was closed.

«Yes, sir...what can I do?»

«Memory like a sieve, today. I forgot the most important thing...Could you bring me a bathrobe, please?»

She went to one of the wardrobes.

«Have you some preference, sir? Red, yellow, green...» she asked loudly.

Flea possessed an astonishing amount of clothes. _And peculiar undergarments_, she thought, and immediately disapproved of herself.

«Uhm...let's see...I can't choose...Bring me the red one...no, the brown...oh, both!»

«Right»

Auree stopped in front of the door suddenly realizing that she didn't know what do to next. She knocked.

«You can enter» Flea answered in amused tones «I'm not naked»

But he was. Just the water and thick foam covered his body. His braid was coiled and pinned on the top of his head not to get wet. He pulled out a hand to gesture idly toward a stool near to the bathtub.

«Put them there, thank you»

Auree obeyed slowly, the heavy fruit scent in the air making her giddy.

«It's a new bath essence» the Mystic explained, as reading her thoughts «What do you think? Do you like it?»

«Good» she said weakly «A bit too...It makes me hungry»

Flea laughed.

«You're right. Well, don't drink it, I think it's poisonous»

Auree curtseyed and left the room before he could think of asking her to wash his back...or something else. Shortly after this, when she was collecting the discarded clothes to bring them to the laundry, Flea emerged from the bathroom wearing the brown bathrobe. He stepped in front of her, arm crossed at his chest.

«Now, Auree, you will tell me the truth» he said sternly «I know you are angry for something...pray tell me what it is»

She spoke slowly, not hiding her discontent.

«I casually heard your conversation with Gorgl...three days ago...»

«Which one?»

«The one in your parlour...I was in my chamber and...and...»

She lowered her gaze.

«You caught your name and eavesdropped» Flea concluded for her, smiling «I would have done the same. Well, I remember. I'm sorry that you had heard Gorgl's silly remarks...but why are you so upset?»

Auree stared at him in amazement. He had let the Hench believe that they had an intimate relationship, that was not true, and asked innocently where the problem was?

_He is really a male_, she thought sadly.

She couldn't say a thing. Flea took gently her hands.

«A nice bath with warm water is always a good remedy against ill-humour. Would you like to try it? You know...foam, scented soap...yes?»

He had brought her back in the bathroom.

«Stay here. I will send for other hot water»

He showed her the various essences she could use, babbling about the right temperature of the water, that shouldn't be too hot nor too cold, because it was bad for the skin.

Auree felt so dizzy that she sat on the stool not noticing that the red bathrobe was still there. When the hot water came, Flea prepared the bath, always talking. Soon the bathtub was full of fragrant foam.

«You can close the door with the latch. And you can use the other bathrobe...oh, just under you. See you later»

He left. Standing up and closing the door took her several minutes. She sighed, looking at the foam, then slowly began to take off her clothes.

_He is luring me into being naked in his bedroom_, she suddenly told herself, _he hadn't closed with the latch, before...and...the two bathrobes...he had programmed all this._

She shrugged and entered the bathtub.

-----

(A cliffhanger! ^__^)


	12. Chapter 12

People actually shrieking in agony because of that cliffhanger? Didn't mean to cause sorrow and despair...  
here's the next part, anyway.

Don't worry, January, I understand! I hope everything is fine for you, now. Perhaps AnGi Kitty will share the job?

**Chapter 12**

Ozzie's Fort - 600 A.D.

When she came out of the bathroom twenty minutes after, holding the bundle of her clothes and trying to look inconspicuous, Auree found her master sitting on the bed with a thick book in his hands. He had changed the brown bathrobe with a black dressing-gown, removed the hairpins holding his long braid and was slowly sipping some tea. He raised his head and smiled.

«Wasn't it nice?»

«Yes, really...thank you, sir»

«Are you leaving?»

«Well...yes...»

Flea closed the tome.

«You could stay, you know. It's so cold in your chamber» he said pleasantly.

Auree couldn't articulate any intelligible word; she shrugged helpless, waving the bunch of clothes in a vague gesture.

_How foolish I must look_, she thought, enraged, _I'm not even sure he has meant that...perhaps I misunderstood a perfectly innocent sentence_.

Then Flea shot at her his wonderful smile and Auree nearly meltedThe next thing she saw was her master picking the clothes from the floor and returning them to her. But, when she took the clothes, he didn't let them go. He stared into her eyes.

«You have no real need for this stuff, now. Forget about it...»

He tossed the clothes on a chair in the corner.

«Stay with me, Auree...please»

_I'm not imagining this_, she had to repeat to herself.

«I...don't know, sir. We...shouldn't...»

«Why not?»

«It doesn't seem right...»

« To whom?»

Auree looked at him and remembered her unsolveddoubt. She couldn't take a decision before knowing every aspect of the situation. She chose to risk a direct questioning.

«Sir...forgive me...I must know» she murmured, deeply embarrassed «I don't understand...what exactly are you?»

Flea looked surprised for a moment, as if he really hadn't expected that, then he burst into laughter. He needed some time to calm down. Auree had blushed, but she was relieved seeing that her master hadn't taken offense at her words.

«_What am I?!_ WellI'm a beautiful creature, can't you see?» he answered, chuckling.

She kept her gaze on the floor.

Flea regained his composure and, hands on his hips, gave her a mischievous gaze.

«Look at me. Look at me _really close_. What do you think?»

«I don't know...»

«You've seen that my...underwear...is different from yours...because unfortunately I'm lacking some female features»

«But many girls are...er...defective in that area, sir, or they think they are...and they wear padded things. It doesn't demonstrate anything»

«You always call me »

«_You_ say you're a man»

«And you don't believe me...fascinating. Tell me...what do you _want_ me to be?»

The Mystic reached Auree and embraced her tenderly, whispering directly into her ear. His warm breath made the skin of her neck tingle.

«You could check this easily now...I'm wearing nothing under this silk»

«Oh! Flea...I mean, _sir_...»

He kissed her neck and shoulder and she almost shrieked for the violence of emotions that exploded inside her. But her body was trembling so pathetically that he let her go.

«No? I thought...you were waiting for it»

«Y-yes...sir» she admitted, with a broken voice.

Flea raised a hand.

«Oh, please...You can't still call me ! All this stuff about master and slave...it's just a game, don't take it seriously»

«But...sir...what are you saying? I _am_ your slave!»

«A horrible thing...never agreed about this. Well, I hate humans -except you- and I would like to sweep them away from this world...I don't mean _dead_, mind you. Just...out of the way. Out of the land that once was _ours_. Had it been my choice, I'd never had taken any of you»

He thought about this and sighed.

«...and I'd never have met you. Uhm...it seems I owe Ozzie something, after all...»

«But...sir?»

«Please, STOP IT! Call me simply Flea, it's my name. Er...no, actually it isn't, but this is the way I like to be called. It's the nickname my mother gave me»

«None of your servants does this»

«The Imps? The Diablos? The Henches? No, they don't...and they will not do it as long as I live. _They_ must show respect»

He suddenly took her hand.

«But we were talking about something totally different from a debate about slavery, right? Ah...if you are sugar...no, I won't tell you!» he _really_ uncertain about my gender, giggled, a hand gently caressing her back «ItYou've got to risk sometimes...»'s like a bet. 

Auree had slipped in his arms again. She didn't oppose to his kisses

«...and is it actually important for you?»

_I'd never have believed this of myself,_ was her thought while trying not to let him open her bathrobe too easily. She didn't try very hard, not as if she really didn't want it...just a bit for the sake of decorum.

Flea had cornered her against a wardrobe.

«Do you plan to hide inside it?» he chuckled «Well, it could be fun...»

He kissed her again with enthusiasm. Then quickly tried to wipe away the tears that were rolling down her cheeks.

«Hey, I'm sorry...I was just...»

«Don't worry. These are tears of _joy_...»

«Didn't mean to scare you»

Then she leaned closer and pressed her lips on his, attempting to use her tongue like he usually did. The attempt was probably successful, because she heard him moaning softly into her mouth, his body tensing against hers. Auree became suddenly aware of his hand slipping beneath her robe and cupping one of her naked breasts, causing her to shiver.

She pulled away full of embarrassment and slightly scared.

She was frantically looking for the two extremities of her belt, but she couldn't find them. Flea grabbed her searching hand, putting the extremities of _his_ belt in it.

«Pull these, he whispered «And open your present»

Without daring to raise her gaze to meet his, she obeyed.

«HAPPY BIIIIRTHDAY!!!» he cried brightly.

***

«See? Becoming thirty isn't so bad, after all»

She laughed softly.

«Still angry at me, honey?»

«No, I'm not...I wasn't angry...otherwise I wouldn't be here»

«Well, I'm really sorry for that stupid words of Gorgl's, Auree. I didn't mean to disrespect you. I got annoyed for what Gorgl was saying and...but I _never_ laughed at you, never in my life!»

«It's all right. I overreacted»

«I won't do it again, however. I won't say a word about you and our relationship, to anyone...not to mention this night»

«Thank you»

Auree was clutching Flea's left arm, resting her head over his shoulder. Those words -_our relationship_- had sounded so beautifulSo he wasn't playing around with her feelings

«Not that I'm ashamed»

«I hope so»

«But...Flea, when you asked for a chambermaid...I mean...were you looking for a girl to seduce?»

Her voice had sounded harder than necessary. She still couldn't let herself hope.

Flea sighed, slightly hurt.

«Well...yes and no. I actually needed a chambermaid, as you have seen. This place was a disaster. But yes, I was feeling lonely and I hoped to find someone interesting for me...someone worthy»

«Worthy?»

«You're not thinking that I usually try to seduce whoever I met, are you? I need no toy. Not many people have shared my bed. I'm very selective»

He laughed.

«Not as selective as you, that's for sure!»

There was a long silence in the dimly lit room.

«Auree? I _wasn't_ laughing at you...Auree? I only meant»

«I was just thinking about this. No... isn't the right word for me. I simply didn't feel...didn't...»

«You never felt desire for anyone before?»

«Just once. And he didn't want me»

«Silly man»

«He couldn't tell me, but I believe he considered meugly»

«What? And you believed that garbage?!»

«Flea...I don't know if you can understand how one can feel when...look, you're so beautiful»

He giggled.

«Thank you. But you're too»

«No...I'm insignificant, my face is nothing special and...»

«You're not a girl who can fascinate a man at first sight, true. But if he looks at you for long enough he _can_ see your beauty! Your face is nothing special without make-up, but nobody is flawless...except me, of course! I'm joking. You're not accustomed to showing your beauty, to _cultivate_ it...I'm trying to teach you. Not to _change_ you, but to help...because you look so unhappy»

«You are filling me with sweet nonsense to lure me into your bed!»

«You are already in my bed»

«You want to lure me into staying in your bed forever!»

They laughed together.

«Seriously, Auree...You're a nice person, we are getting along so well...I like you, and I like to think we're friends. I never thought I could have a human friend! Yes, I like you for _who_ you are...but...can I speak freely? I wouldn't have ever _dreamed_ to make love to you if I wouldn't have liked your _body_ as well. You know how important beauty is for me...»

Auree reflected about this for a long minute.

«But you couldn't see my body when you chose me, you couldn't know...»

«I followed my instinct, it seldom fails. I read something in your eyes, and decided to offer you an opportunity»

Outside it was raining. Auree could hear drops rattling gently at the windows. She sighed. It was a delightful sensation, staying there rolled up in warm, smooth sheets, laying besides her lover, while the dim light of a nearly consumed candle gave the room a cosy atmosphere...

«Never slept with a human before» he observed.

«We haven't slept yet»

«True. It was an euphemism»

«Could I sleep here?»

«No, I will dump you on the floor now that I'm satisfied!»

«A wonderful bed. Huge...perhaps five or six people could stay in it»

«I'm not sure I'd like that»

«I wouldn't. Just a phrase»

«It's not true that I like strange things. Auree?»

«What?»

«And you...when you answered my call...I mean, if you believed that I was choosing a girl for my bed, why did you offer yourself as a volunteer?»

A perfectly logical question. Auree should have expected it. But she hadn't and, although he had spoken in amused tones and was smiling without malice, she passed a horrible moment.

«But it was different...I mean...I did it...I mean...I wouldn't...»

«Yes?» he insisted, with a girlish giggle.

«I did it because...no, I'm not like those ones, like Yulanna!»

«Never thought this»

«Shouldn't judge her. It was because...You know, when I came here at this castle...I saw you and...From then I have always wondered if...well, I was...»

«What?»

«You know perfectly well what I mean!» she burst out «I fell in love with youthe third time I saw you...»

He gave a soft, satisfied sigh.

«_That's_ what I read in your eyes. And...you fell in love with me when you didn't know for sure if I was a male? Ah...Maybe you've been disappointed finding out that I'm actually a...»

«No, not at all!»

Auree sighed sadly.

«You chose me for this. You _knew_ how I was feeling about you! You knew it all...that I was spying on you, and following you around...»

«Why should I have chosen a girl who hated me, dear? Of course...That night in the banquet hall, by dropping a tray on Slash's feet, you made me notice you. Of course, when Gorgl arrested you, he told me...once in a thousand, he does something right. At that point, there were only two choices: you could have been a madwoman who wanted me dead, or...»

«...or an idiot who had a crush on you and was acting like a teenager»

«I had to find out the truth...why , honey? Being in love always compels you to do illogical things, and this is part of the fun. So I chose you and the other girls...because I couldn't simply _ask_ you, can you see?...and offered the aforementioned opportunity»

«That meeting was a pretence»

«Not at all. I was going to actually hire the girl who would have volunteered» he sighed «I was truly happy to see it was you...ah, the way you melted like butter when I looked at you!»

Nobody spoke for several minutes. Then Flea asked, in a slightly worried voice:

«Do you feel offended by this, Auree?»

«No. Just...I really didn't imagine you remembered that tray accident...»

«I was depressed that night, and you lightened me up. That pompous loser of a Slash just deserved something like that...he was getting on my nerves. As usual! But why the _third_ time, love? What happened the first and the second time you saw me, instead?»

Auree took her time for studying her emotions with care, and choosing the words.

«The second time I was scared...something struck me...I felt so uneasy and strange, I didn't realize at first that I was simply attracted by you...»

«And the first time?»

She cleared her throat.

«I...though you were a woman»

«Ah»

There was a very, very long silence. Then Flea's voice sounded like a quiet, dejected whining.

«_Really_?»

---

Chapter 13 will take some time...


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 

Geno Dome - 2300 A.D.

Marle looked down at the three cards in her hand and grinned triumphantly.

«Ten points!» she cried, scooping every card from the floor.

«Again?» Lucca sighed, «I shouldn't have taught you this stupid game...»

«It's fun!» the other girl giggled.

«Not for me, since I'm losing!»

«_AAAIIIEEEOOOUUU_...» Robo screamed, darting past them in the corridor. He was surrounded by a flickering blue aura, small bolts of lightning were forming between his arms and legs. But before he could reach the pod he was aiming for, the electricity had already discharged, the dizzying light faded.

He stopped silently. If a robot could have looked crestfallen and embarrassed, he would have been that one.

«Too bad» he said evenly «I was so close this time»

He turned around smoothly and left.

The companions had hardly noticed him. That scene had repeated so often in that past hour that Crono had slumped in a corner and fallen asleep, Ayla was running around doing gymnastics and climbing the walls, Glenn and Magus were sitting close to each other staring gloomily at opposite directions while Marle and Lucca had started a game of cards.

Indeed, they were stuck in front of that locked door which could be opened only by a robot stepping onto a nearby pod -after having charged itself with electricity in a special cabin. Unfortunately, the cabin was far away and the energy dissipated quickly, although Robo tried to run at maximum speed.

A really boring afternoon.

«I have a theory about the gates» Lucca said, shuffling the cards and dealing them again.

She quicky corrected herself.

«Well...not really a in a scientific sense, just...a feeling. I don't think it's Lavos that creates them»

«No?» Marle asked in surprise.

«He's surely related to the gates someway, but...I don't know how to explain my thoughts. It's like...like I went to the past to save my mother»

None of the two girls was paying much attention to the cards anymore.

«I was wondering...» the princess said «How can you remember your mother being wounded...it has never happened! All your life should have been different, and...»

Marle was a lot smarter than her appearance could suggest. Just because she liked jumping in the air like a little girl and screaming a lot when happy -it didn't mean she had a six-years-old's mind. Meeting Lucca's gaze, she felt she could understand the gist of the young scientist's thoughts.

Lucca was nodding.

«My life _had_ been different, but not _too much_...I can remember both realities, and the one in which my mother was maimed is now like a very bad nightmare...What I was trying to say was: my life _couldn't_ change too much. When I was a child...»

She stopped in midsentence, frozen by another disquieting feeling. The smiling, kind face of her cousin Megara had surfaced in her memoryIt was usually a nice memory, but not this time –now, for a brief, horrible instant, Lucca felt there could be a reality in which Megara didn't exist, and it was a lot worse than the reality in which her mother was crippled, because

Robo's screaming deafened everybody for a couple of seconds. But none among the companions bothered to look up at him. There was nothing to be seen except a sad robot in front of a still closed metallic door. Robo left again, this time without a word.

«When I was a child, I hated science! I was jealous of all those machines my father favored over his own daughter...over me. But, after the accident...I felt so guilty for not having been able to stop that device that I decided to study and learn...so that nobody would suffer again for my ignorance»

She stopped, her voice unsteady. But she recovered fast, smiling again. _It had never happened_, she reminded herself.

«Well, now the accident hasn't occurred and I've made the same decision for apparently different reasons. The point is: had I never became a scientist, we couldn't have been here, none of us! So...»

«...you couldn't have saved your mother. Yeah, classic time paradox and all! Whatever change we believe to have done to the past...reality will rearrange itself around so that the major facts still _have_ to happen!» Marle enthusiastically exclaimed.

Lucca considered that for a long moment, then she slowly nodded.

«I'd have used more complicated words, but...yes, something like that. If with major facts you mean all the events that have brought us to time travelling, yes. Either this way, or...we are just deluding ourselves, because we aren't allowed to make too many changes»

Marle frowned.

«I can't see the connection with your talk about gates»

The other girl shrugged. But Marle, after a few moments of uncertainty, understood.

«It means that...if the presence of Lavos in each time period creates the gates, we _can't_ kill it...because we need the gates to reach that monster!» she said, shocked.

Lucca smiled.

«I prefer to reason the other way around»

The gust of wind produced by a robot-shaped missile darting in the corridor nearly threw the girls on the floor. Recovering, however, they heard a and a metallic shriek -the robotic equivalent of a cry of joy.

***

Ozzie's Fort - 600 A.D.

«Thank you for staying, Auree» Flea whispered, trying to control his trembling voice.

«Did you really think I could run away?» she asked in a melancholy tone.

«Haven't you been tempted?»

Of course she had been. When the slaves' rebellion had broken out, one of her previous fellow-workers had urged her to flee. She had considered the thought for some seconds, because running suddenly away is a natural human instinct. But then she had promptly acknowledged the situation.

_What do you want from me?,_ she had asked sternly, _You, my fellow humans...you have humiliated me every day of my life, your hypocrisy has killed my mother. Even in disgrace, we are always fighting each other, attempting to crush the weaker ones...I had to be enslaved before feeling appreciated, respected...and loved. And you, who can't understand anything of this, call me a lost woman, even you, Yulanna. You haven't seen him sleeping, looking so innocent and frail. There was no need to strive so hard to seduce me, I'd have easily fallen into his bed the first day and he knew. But he cares about my feelings...unlike you...Who's actually the monster, then? Are you now sincerely expecting I will come with you? Where? Why? To be the redeemed sinner, barely tolerated by other people? They'll forgive you, Yulanna, saying you just had to save your life. They won't forgive me, knowing I really did it for love, and I will never regret it._

Well, Auree wasn't positive she had actually told all this to Yulanna. Perhaps she had only thought it, scowling at the other woman until that one had left, scared.

Now Flea was sitting on his throne, and Auree on his knees like a child. She felt reasonably sure to have done the right thing.

He had turned his head away to hide his expression, but she had already noticed there were tears in his eyes, and mascara had slightly stained the rims of his eyes.

He sniffed and cleared his throat. Then he faced her with a brittle smile.

«You're so precious to me...how stupid I've been not telling you before»

«There was no need, I knew it»

He sighed heavily.

«I know that at first I can seem frivolous and shallow...it's just that I'm always trying to see the bright side of life»

«You're a good-natured person»

«I've had some bad experiences, you know»

«You told me»

«I don't like brooding...worrying about things...But I must admit my sentimental life, until now, has been a disastrous one. I didn't want to speak about it...»

Auree raised a hand and gently caressed his cheek. They had been lovers for a while, now, but she seldom dared spontaneous gestures like that one, defying her extreme shyness.

He seemed to appreciate it.

«If you count from our first kiss...our love story is almost two months old» he said, «This is the longest relationship I ever had. You know...it has never been easy for me to find a partner. Most of female Mystics are...er...aesthetically disadvantaged»

She nodded.

«I remember...humanoid Mystics are a small group»

«Yes. But it's not for that reason...Since my boyhood I've met many interesting girls. But...they resist for three, four, sometimes five weeks and then...they always ask me to stop acting like this. My...habit...repels women. They tolerate it for a while, believing it's some kind of joke and expecting I will put it aside sooner or later. Oh, Auree, I'm not acting, I'm sorry. I _am_ just like this, I've always been. I can't change»

«You don't have to!» she said vehemently «Nobody should be asked to change his personality to please other people. Some mutual adjustments may be necessary, but if you truly love someone, you've got to accept and respect him or her...There's no love without respect»

«I tend to agree»

«After all, you're not hurting anyone and...»

Her voice faded; Auree feeling doubtful.

«I suppose» she continued meekly «you're referring to your...uhm...preference for female clothes...»

His eyes widened.

«These are not clothes!» he protested, fluttering his long eyelashes «These are just _elegant_ and _stylish_ clothes, that emphasise my beauty! There's a big difference...»

«Flea» she sighed, «You're currently wearing a woman undergarment you don't need at all»

«My idea of what a beautiful figure should be includes breasts, and...» 

He lowered his gaze with a weak, embarrassed smile.

«Well...I just like it. What's wrong?»

«Nothing»

They exchanged a quick glance, and then he kissed her.

«Flea...when you say you've always been like this, do you mean really_always_? From childhood?»

«Yes...I'm born with this body, you know»

«And your mother...agreed?»

«She was an open-minded, intelligent woman. Who did decide that males should dress like this and females like that? Why? It's sexism, that's what it is»

She giggled. She was trying to figure out what this kind of speech could have caused in that bigot human society she had known. But she had a question left.

«Did you ever...dream to be...a girl?»

«_Me?_ No! I just wanted to be beautiful like my mother»

He blinked slowly, suddenly confused.

«Oh, my...I _think_ that was my _mother_!»

Auree coughed.

«Ehm...sure I'm not too heavy?»

«You're a feather, darling»

_Feather?_

He enlightened.

«Yes! Let's go!» he erupted brightly.

Auree stood up.

«Where?»

«I've a gift for you!»

«Another one? Oh...»

Auree had dreaded that Flea's attitude toward her could change after she had given him...everything, but her fears had proved wrong. Flea's gentleness and generosity had lasted utterly unchanged. This was comforting. But slightly embarrassing as well. She had begun to feel confused by the amount of gifts she was receiving.

There had been the Wonder Razor, which could keep her legs smooth for a very long time. There had been a ring with a sapphire...currently at the jeweller's workshop because it needed to be adjusted for Auree's lean finger. There had been a sort of sweet syrup -well, not exactly a gift, but a medicine to avoid that kind of accidents that could seriously embarrass an unmarried woman...And, above all, there had been _books_. Loads of them.

«You shouldn't overwhelm me with tons of gifts...»

«What's the point of being rich and powerful, then? But...this one isn't an _object_. I have an idea...come!»

He dragged her out of the throne room.

---

(ahh...the Wonder Razor! how useful! ^__^)


	14. Chapter 14

(Stupid filter! I thought my story had disappeared!!!)

**Chapter 14**

Ozzie's Fort - 600 A.D.

«Oh, Flea, it's...it's wonderful!»

«I was sure you'd like it. It's my favourite too. But mind the wall...the ceiling!»

They were floating in mid-air, Auree laughing loud like a little girl. Now she had understood why Flea had brought her in that large empty room with a vaulted high ceiling.

«Avoid brusque movements...you have to move slowly and with care» he advised, «You could get hurt against the wall, otherwise. It's a bit like swimming»

«No, a lot easier! I don't have to fight for breath! Flea, I really don't understand why, if you can fly...»

«This is not really flying, just floating. We can't travel fast or going too high...»

«If you can float in the air, why do you bother to walk at all? It's so much more fun this way!»

He seemed to think hard about it.

«I suppose...for the same reason I don't ask you to stay with me every night. I think that pleasures, to be truly appreciated, must be savoured...sparsely»

She considered this philosophy and agreed.

«This spell has one defect: you cantouch the ground until it's gone or until you revocate 't it with a counter-spell, unless you want the magic to discharge through your body!»

He drew her besides him, took her hands and spoke softly.

«Auree, I've been a fool not telling you...I know you were waiting for this, but I waited too...to be sure, I don't like to speak at random, especially about important issues...but now I want to assure you that I'm deeply in lo---»

A terrific noise cancelled the rest of the sentence. An incorporeal, menacing, annoying voice coming from nowhere. The distorted voice of Ozzie -already unpleasant as it was- calling for his lieutenants.

«Flea! Slash! To the great hall, quickly!»

«Oh, no!» Flea sighed, letting her go «Green Whale is calling...I must go»

He pulled a small mirror out of his pocket and examined his face.

«My God! Why didn't you tell me I was looking like this?» he exclaimed, noticing the mascara stains under his eyes. He looked for a handkerchief.

«We're under attack!»

«Under attack?» Auree repeated, impressed «Shouldn't you hurry up?»

«No...Just one of Ozzie's stupid military trainings, I bet» he said, quickly reapplying his make-up «Just a simulation, to see who's ready and who's not»

He waved a hand and Auree was surrounded by small golden sparkles.

«The floating spell will last for one hour, slowly fading. You won't fall abruptly from the air, don't worry. But be careful, don't go high and don't try to jump from a window, you're not prepared for the outside, understood?»

«Yes»

«And don't try to touch the floor»

«You've said I can't»

«You can, but it will hurt! I hope I will come back soon. Have fun...Oh, uhm...»

He looked at her with a strange, intense expression, then approached her again and whispered something in her ear.

It was a single word, in a language Auree didn't know. Nevertheless, after a brief moment of uncertainty, she understood what that meant...the realisation struck her so fiercely that her eyes widened while she took a deep breath...

Flea hushed her putting a finger over her half-opened mouth.

«Please, don't repeat it. Never pronounce it in this fortress. I have told you just...because I like to think there's still someone calling me that way... although only in her thoughts...»

She nodded, unable to speak.

«See you later, Auree!»

Her lips just formed the word .

Alone in the great room, Auree danced merrily in the air, spinning and twirling.

She wandered happily all over the large hall, peering through the encrusted panes of high skylights. At the end, she descended almost at ground level, to look out of a window. She rested there, enjoying the nice view and the spring-scented air.

Auree could hardly believe Flea had revealed to her his best kept secret, so well hidden that only few persons knew there _was_ a secret at all. An annoying voice in her head was insisting that perhaps he hadn't told her anything; perhaps he had just made up a meaningless word to fool her.

But she knew that voice very well; it was her mother's, the same continuously repeating that there weren't honest people anywhere in the world and however nobody would dream of being honest -or simply kind- to her daughter because she hadn't money nor beauty. Of course, if Auree had _had_ money or beauty, her mother would have said that nobody could have been honest to her daughter because they would be busy trying to rob or cheat her.

She sighed, thinking about a conversation she had had with Flea some weeks before...

***

Flea took hold of Auree's wrist, stopping her from serving him a cup of milk.

«Why are you doing this? Sit down and eat your breakfast without worrying about mine. I can manage»

Auree meekly obeyed. She wasn't entirely comfortable eating at the same table with her master, and using nice white porcelain cups. There was a silver sugar-basin and a small plate full of fragrant cookies...

As if reading her mind, Flea spoke softly.

«You're not my servant anymore. You don't have to work. Forget all those annoying errands, the laundry, the food...»

He laughed, remembering how, after their first night together, Auree had suddenly awaken in the morning terribly worried about his food, since it was nine already and she hadn't brought him breakfast. She wanted to run in the kitchen, he almost had to restrain her by force.

«But I like working for you!» she protested anxiously.

«I'm offering you an easy life, and whatever money can buy. _Please_, don't tell me you love houseworking»

She lowered her gaze, confused.

«No...I don't think someone could possibly love houseworking. And me...I've always been lazy! But now...it's different. Perhaps because it's not just for me. It has another meaning. No, I'm not talking about the physical works, I won't miss them. I'm referring to...»

«...organising»

«Yes» she smiled «I feel good if I can take care of your things and of you, like...»

«Like a wife?» Flea suggested, almost casually.

Auree gaped, shocked, while turning a deep shade of red. She hadn't thought of that...but...actually...

«I suppose so» she breathed, without looking at him.

«Hmmm, each of us is discovering something new about ourselves» he observed, and finished his milk in a long draught «I've just found out I like being cared of»

There was a long silence.

«But you seemed troubled this morning» he said, putting down the empty cup «What's wrong?»

Auree stared at the Mystic. Everybody had always reproached her for being too cold and impassive, they used to say it was impossible to understand her true feelings from her facial expression.

But Flea didn't seem to have that problem; he had often given her the impression he could read her like a book. Perhaps because he _cared_.

She nodded.

«Today...it would have been my mother's birthday»

«Oh. I understand»

Auree slowly shook her head.

«Don't know...no, I'm afraid nobody can understand how I'm feeling»

He sighed.

«My mother, as you know, has been dead for more that thirty years...yet, when something special or unusual happens to me, my first thought is to run and tell her. I always need some moments to realize I can't»

Auree spoke with a broken voice.

«It's not that...Actually, I...I envy your feelings!»

She had to take a deep breath before going ahead.

«I'm so ashamed of myself! I _don't_ miss her at all! She was my mother, she had died two years ago and I am somehow relieved not to have to listen to her voice anymore!»

She passed a shaking hand over her face.

«I mean...it's a horrible thing to say...»

She heard Flea hiss and for a moment she feared he too might disapprove of her.

« was the life she has made you live» he said coldly.

«She couldn't help!» Auree exclaimed «She had been so unlucky, she had suffered so much...and now...It's not fair that she's remembered only as a nuisance!»

«But she was» Flea sighed, gently but firmly «Auree, I hate judging people, especially people I never met, but look at the facts: your mother has tried to ruin your life like hers had been ruined. She has made you believe you're stupid, useless, ugly and unworthy of love. Should we thank her for this? I'll never forgive her! Living a difficult life doesn't give you the right to abuse your children!»

He suddenly stopped, grabbing her hand.

«Sorry, I got carried away» he murmured to the shocked girl «I know I shouldn't speak this way. Well, Auree...you see, when a child is born, his parents can love him or not. It's _their_ problem, _their_ choice. If they love you, they will _forever_, no matter what happens. But if they _don't_...if parental love hasn't lighted, there nothing you can say, or do, or become to strike the sparkle again. They'll never change their hearts, it's not your fault...and perhaps not even theirs»

He slowly touched her cheek. She put her hand over his.

«I'm not saying your mother was _evil_...I'm pretty sure she believed she loved you...and she thought she was doing everything for your sake, but...actually, she wasn't»

The Mystic brightened up with a sweet smile.

«This is just the past, Auree. All we can do is to acknowledge it and go ahead»

***

A hiccup and a strange, strangled sound drew her attention toward the floor.

A Hench was staggering around the hall, sniffing and mumbling to himself, a round bottle in his fat green hand. He was obviously drunk, but not so cheerful as he used to be. He lifted his gaze and didn't seem so much surprised to see a woman floating in the air than he did recognising her.

«You...here?» he stuttered, coming closer.

He shook his big head as to clear his thoughts.

«You here» he repeated «Sir Flea...is lucky...»

«Gorgl?» she murmured, not really sure about his identity. It was hard to tell one Hench from another...

He waved the bottle in front of him. He was weeping, and it was an impressive view. The thick, dense tears that covered his face like opalescent mucus were fairly disgusting, but...at the same time, Auree felt true pity for that creature. It reminded her of that day in her childhood when she had tried to kill a large spider but had succeeded only in maiming it -she had always loathed spiders, but seeing the half-crushed thing still writhing and probably suffering she had felt so much remorse for having harmed an innocent living being, and had cried while finishing it off.

«Yulanna's gone!» he wailed at last.

She didn't know what to say.

«Oh...I'm sorry...»

And she was.

«I believed...she was happy with me...Sir Flea is lucky» he continued with great difficulties «I didn't have money or gifts...or stuff for her, but she...I really liked her»

She nodded silently.

«I don't think it's your fault» she said, trying to sound sincere «Probably she is that kind of woman...who doesn't like to be...bound»

Better not to tell him what she was actually thinking of Yulanna.

The Hench raised the bottle.

«You've stayed»

«Uh...yes»

«Why?»

«I love him» she answered in a whisper, half embarrassed, half proud of it.

Gorgl passed the back of his hand over his eyes.

«I'll miss her...» he sighed.

Then he turned away and tottered out of the hall.

Auree hardly had time to recover from that melancholy encounter before being startled by some kind of commotion from the outside. She couldn't see anything from her point of observation, everything seemed normal at the main gate. People were shouting somewhere else, perhaps in the courtyard. She quickly went to another window.

There was a small fight. Hences, Diablos and Imps were milling around shrieking ominously, enraged against some -still invisible- enemies. There was an explosion, and the Mystic soldiers were thrown in the air or slammed against the thick walls. Most of them didn't show signs of life anymore. A few fled.

With disconcert, she finally saw who had caused such a mayhem. A bunch of strange individuals -the majority of the group formed by plain humans. Humans with a power like that! They looked around in the courtyard and, not spotting any other Mystic to defeat, decided to enter the castle. They passed exactly under Auree's window.

A red-haired boy holding a big sword and a blonde girl dressed in white led the company. There was also a tall man with unusual blue hair and a discontented look, a woman who seemed not to know how to walk properly (for most of the time she was on four legs!), a strange kind of machinery gleaming vividly under the sunlight, and someone who was probably wearing a silly green mask. In the rear-guard came another girl that at first seemed to have purple hair. Auree blinked and looked at her again. She realized the girl's hair was actually reddish brown, the sun was giving it that hint of violet. It was strange, mesmerizing...

Auree was startled again at the noise of alarms and calling that came from everywhere.

_That isn't a simulation! The attack Ozzie had spoken of is real!_

She gathered her courage and tried to float as quickly as possible toward the door. Knowing the castle very well, she had an idea of where the enemies could go first...what she had _not_ was an idea of what she was supposed to do once there before them. But what else? She couldn't simply wait.

_Flea was in danger._

----

Sorry...I'm afraid every chapter will end with a cliffhanger from now on! ^__^


	15. Chapter 15

AnGi Kitty, they say your mailbox doesn't exist anymore! Please tell me if you have another address!!!

So, this is the infamous chapter 15, the reason for the R rating. This part contains sex and violence (not together ^_^)...but perhaps PG-13 would suffice. Should I change the rating? Let me know!

This hasn't been edited, I'm sorry. Weird grammar ahead.

The dialogue beetween Magus and Ozzie in the first scene is different from the script of the game because I used the translation from Japanese Hyena 20 posted on a GameFAQs message board some time ago; I hope s/he (?) doesn't mind.

**Chapter 15**

Ozzie's Fort - 600 A.D.

She leaned carefully from the parapet and saw Ozzie greet the humans.

«Welcome! This is the Great Ozzie's place!» he announced with genuine pride. But his expression suddenly changed, seeing someone stepping out from the group.

The tall, blue-haired man holding a scythe.

«You...you're Magus!»

The man bowed.

«You've reached a high status, haven't you, Ozzie?»

Ozzie's pig-like features distorted in rage.

«What are you saying?! You abandoned the fight for a Mystics' World and joined the humans! Why did you betray us....?»

«The past has come to an end. It was all just a short-lived dream»

«Traitor! You're not out king anymore! Why did you desert us? To serve those humans? I'll have you begging for mercy! Flea!»

He looked around nervously.

«Damn! You good-for-nothing peacock!» he added in a lower tone «Have you finished painting your fingernails? FLEA!»

Flea appeared, at last.

«You sent for me?» he asked as all that was boring him to death «Oh, if it isn't Sir Magus. Who'd you bribe to get in here? You have some nerve showing your face here, now. Traitors like you deserve a beating!»

He gestured Ozzie to retire.

«Great Ozzie, stand back and let _me_ take care of those cretins»

«I'm counting on you, Flea» Ozzie said, grinning ominously, and left.

Flea shook free his hands and poised for the battle.

«Get ready for a _slapping_ good time!»

He smiled almost innocently, and threw a fireball against the companions. They weren't so affected by that as he was expecting. They reacted promptly. Auree, who was witnessing the scene in quiet horror, had to shut her mouth with both her hands not to shriek seeing those devils attack her loved one with swords and arrows. She saw him slowly withdrawing, she saw his blood staining his blouse.

_Calm down, he's a powerful magician, he knows what to do!_ she ordered herself.

Flea muttered something and his wounds closed.

A disquieting knowledge was tormenting Auree.

_But the great Magus is more powerful._

Perhaps Flea was remembering this too.

«Oh, just you wait! We'll teach you a lesson!» he shouted, enraged.

He leaped in the air and vanished.

Auree sighed in relief. But where has he gone? And those humans were proceeding toward the inner parts of the castle...Yes, the Great Hall, surely...

_If I could use a weapon..._

She tried to follow the companions as quickly as she could, sometimes hitting the wall or the parapet. She couldn't help remembering that night again -that marvellous and frightening night...

***

«What are you doing? Silly girl!»

Flea had gently laid a naked Auree on his bed, but now -after a quick tour of the room to blow off the unnecessary candles and create a more intimate atmosphere- he had found her completely hidden under the sheets and still, like a corpse.

«Auree?! You'll suffocate!»

«I'm too embarrassed» her muffled voice answered.

He sighed. He took off his dressing gown, dropping it on the floor.

«All right...but I'm not going to turn off _every_ light! I'm coming...»

He entered his large bed and lay down besides the girl. At first, he didn't attempt to touch her.

«Do you usually sleep with your face covered?» he asked in a casual tone.

Eventually Auree's head emerged. She smiled weakly.

«What a nonsense, hiding your fine body! What's the matter?»

She didn't answered. She sniffed.

«I love your perfume...»

«Thank you»

He went closer to her and placed a tender kiss on her forehead.

«Why are you so frightened?»

«I...never...»

«I've guessed _that_. Butwho cares? That's not an examination»

«I don't know...what to do...»

«But you know _something_, right?»

«Well, yes...»

He smiled.

«You shouldn't worry in any case since you are a quick learner»

«I'm a...what?!» she repeated, puzzled.

«Yes, think about kisses, for example. The first time I kissed you, you acted like you have never _heard_ about them...and every other time you waited for my initiative. But, ten minutes ago...you amazed me! You came and kissed me in a way that has left me _breathless_! You...»

Flea stopped, seeing her shocked gaze.

«But these speeches probably disturb you. Sorry. Darn, every time I try to encourage you, I say something wrong and end offending you. I'm deeply sorry»

She blinked.

«N-no...Thank you...I didn't know if I had done it right. Oh! Am I really so good?»

«Yes! Well...I don't remember...let me check out!»

They kissed for a long time. Auree was slowly relaxing.

«Oh, I forgot» Flea said, «I left my hair braided...Perhaps I should»

«No, leave it! I just love your braid!» Auree sighed, caressing his smooth hair.

«If you don't mind, I'd instead prefer to untie you ponytail...can I?»

«Be my guest»

Her dark brown hair, unfastened, scattered on the pillow and over her shoulders. A strange sensation, hair over her nude skinShe realized with surprise that Flea was already fondling her left nipple. When had he started to touch her so intimately? It had seemed so natural, so good, to stay there with himNow he was kissing her breastSeeing she wasn't about to protest, he carefully took the nipple in his mouth, his tongue circling it slowly.

In such a thrilling circumstance, his strange pointed ear drew her attention and she gingerly touched it. Flea raised his head, giggling.

«Well, on the other hand, your _round_ ears seem a bit funny to_ me_!» he said happily.

They laughed, but soon the Mystic became serious again.

«Auree, if you're afraid for yourself, I can understand it...everybody is nervous the first time, men as well. But, please, don't worry about _me_. Don't fear to be somehow inadequate, to leave me unsatisfied..._This won't happen._ I'm already so happy you're here! And I know you're totally inexperienced...»

«It's written on my face, isn't it?»

«Sort of. But this is _not_ a problem, believe me»

Moved by the gentleness in his voice, and by the sincere, _clean_ desire she saw in his eyes, Auree sighed heavily, wondering how some people could think of sex as a dirty thing. It seemed so _natural_...

She had dreamed often of having sex, of course. She didn't show her emotions outside but she had an unrestrained and somehow audacious imagination. She had had morbid fancies about being deflowered with violence, about giving herself to a total stranger in the dark...But all this teenager stuff was gone now. She was happy Flea was so careful.

Auree wasn't expecting too much from her first time, though. She was just hoping not to faint -like it had happened when they had tried to pierce her earlobes-, not to bleed too much ruining his silk bedsheets...

_What an unromantic thought!_ she sighed inwardly.

«This is one of the most natural thing of life» he was saying, «Like sleeping or eating...and your body knows it. Don't worry...»

_A compulsive talker, he is. Well, would I really prefer he took me without a word? No, I love his voice so much...as everything else. And, if he likes communicating, this can only be a good thing._

His kind attempt to explain everything to her was a nice thought, but it was slowing down things a lot and she wasn't sure she could resist anymore under his caresses without starting to scream. She was already on the verge of tears.

_Please, do something!!! You are killing me!!! Is he...is he going to talk all the time through?_

But at the end he began doing something. And, although Auree believed to be prepared, she wasn't. She nearly somersaulted feeling touched –gently, almost soothingly- in her most intimate parts, and couldn't avoid gasping for the surprise.

«Are those...fingers?» she breathed, fearing that his long fingernails could hurt, but they didn't.

«Yes...ouch! You're _crushing_ them!!!»

«S-sorry»

She slowly relaxed again.

«If you don't like something, just tell me, uh?» he whispered.

«Sorry. Please...don't stop»

«It's my hand...nothing to fear by that...»

«If you say so...»

But the pressure she was feeling against her abdomen wasn't a hand. Only at that point she dared to lower her gaze to actually look...

_Perhaps he's expecting me to touch him...somewhere...somehow..._

She couldn't manage to do that. She wanted to...but simply couldn't. She just put one hand on his shoulder to reassure herself; her other hand strayed over his back and then caressed his smooth chest -he was actually hairless-, with uncertain and probably awkward movements. How _silky_ his skin felt under her fingers! When she pinched one of his nipples, he tensed a little and chuckled.

«It's all right. Whatever you choose to do...or not to do...is all right. We are supposed to have fun, this is the only thing you must keep in mind. I'm not going to give you a mark. Don't worry» he repeated «Just relax...»

Flea leaned over her and kissed her lips. He hesitated for a little.

«You aren't doing this just to please me, are you?»

Auree smiled.

«No»

«Do you want me?»

«Yes»

«Tell me...»

She looked up at him. He was so beautiful, so sweet, tempting like a delicious fruit...she was about to weep, overwhelmed by her desire.

«I want you»

Flea kissed her again, this time trying to distract her, and succeeding. He managed to slip inside her rather easily and painlessly.

When Auree realized what had already happened she felt more confused than ever.

She hadn't felt anything. For a long minute this thought really scared her more than her worst expectations. She had been prepared for pain, for a lot of unpleasant sensations, not for..._nothing_. The rest of her, warmed by Flea's body and his expert caressing, was having a great time, but that small part remained silent, like anaesthetised, tormenting Auree with the terrifying suspect that there could be something _wrong_ in herself.

While he was entering her completely, she only felt a vague sense of pressure. It was so weird, to have something inside there

He was proceeding with care, probably mistaking her silence for suffering.

«Is this all right? Should I stop?» he asked softly.

«What? No!»

«Then, darling, what if you...well, I'll show you»

He showed her what he wanted. And, as he began moving into her, at last something happened...

Some time later, however, Flea's voice sounded worried. He hadn't stopped touching her, kissing her, whispering her gentle things...managing to _actually_ talk all the time through. Auree had followed his instruction and listened to his comments with a quiet smile, returning his kisses. But she hadn't said a wordshe hadn't emitted any sound at all.

«Auree? Please, speak to me! Is it something wrong? Is it so _bad_?»

She looked up at him in utter amazement.

«No! I'm enjoying it!»

«Really?»

«It's just so weird...the strangest sensation...»

She was feeling pain now, but a peculiar kind of pain, so mingled with pleasure that she couldn't think of asking her lover to stop. An absurd thought had struck her, the certainty that this unique medley of feelings could be experienced just one time and that she should take as much as possible from those exceptional moments.

At his climax, Flea murmured some words in a language Auree could not understand, then inadvertently pricked her shoulder with his long, varnished fingernails, wrenching a cry from her.

«Sorry, sorry!» he hurriedly apologised.

«Never mind» she whispered, not sure to have cried for that.

He tried to withdraw, but Auree tightened her legs' grip around his waist.

«No, don't leave me yet!» she pleaded.

He carefully turned, making her move as well, to lie down without weighting on the girl. Thus they remained for a while, until he gave a loud sigh.

«I believed you wanted me to leave you alone as soon as possible»

«Why?»

«Uhm...I think I've hurt you...scratches apart»

«And so? It's always a bit painful...I knew that. But...»

Auree looked at his beaming face, the flickering light from the only candle reflecting in his eyes.

«I want you to know you're a wonderful lover. You have been gentle and caring...but passionate...»

Those words sounded a bit silly in her own ears, but who cared...you can't recite a poem every time you open your mouth. She was trying to express her feelings, to open her heart: a new and hard task for her. So she was really surprised to see him genuinely embarrassed.

«Thank you, honey. You've inspired me that way» Flea answered, slowly retiring from her.

«...And please tell me this hot stuff oozing away is _not_ my blood» she murmured, blushing.

He laughed.

«It's not. Ah, but if I can tell you...I _am_ a little unsatisfied. Because you haven't reached your...you know...best moment»

«Best moment?» she repeated, uncertain. She really didn't know anything about that.

«My fault. But next time will be better...little by little we'll learn each other's needs»

«It has been better that my fantasies, though»

«What kind of fantasies did you have?» Flea asked, amused, while holding her close «About...me?»

She rested her head on his chest.

«Yes...ehm...just normal things»

Flea sighed again.

«See? Becoming thirty isn't so bad, after all»


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Ozzie's Fort - 600 A.D.

Ozzie, Flea and Slash were waiting in the Great Hall, together with a large amount of Mystic soldiers of various races, well armed. This sight slightly comforted Auree, but just for a few seconds. The two groups collided with a deafening noise. The Mystic troops shouted their warcry and Ozzie laughed like a madman, magic crackled in the large room.

The three bosses were fighting in strict co-operation. They had elaborated some complex but rather effective tricks. Sometimes they created a roughly triangular force field, shining and pulsating, to trap and stun the humans inside. Otherwise, Slash attacked with a sword powered by Flea's fire magic, after that Ozzie had given him a great crash force. It was an impressive spectacle.

Well, for Auree it wasn't exactly pleasant seeing humans wounded...but what did they want? They were menacing her life and her happiness...again.

Soon the battle rhythm changed. Against all odds, the humans were gaining ground and they had managed to put the bosses apart from each other and from their troops, a bad thing. Auree observed Flea's fight while frantically thinking about a way to reach and help him.

Spheres of light and flames took form in his hands, and he threw them at the enemies, always quietly smiling. A sort of twinkling aura surrounded him, probably a magical shield. He didn't seem worried. He fought with grace and elegance, with harmonious gestures, his robes and cloak fluttering around his slim body; he was always wearing a mien of regal dignity, always posing as for a portrait.

At one point, he tossed a mocking kiss to the frogman. Auree was surprised to see the kiss -a pink heart-shaped object- _actually_ flying across the hall and hitting the frogman in the face with the force of a fist. He staggered under the impact and suddenly looked confused. It took his several minutes to remember who he was and what side he was fighting for. Despite her fears, Auree smiled inwardly considering that a kiss from Flea was always -in some way- a special experience.

But the companions took their revenge. The two blond-haired girls began some kind of silly dance and soon Flea remained still, as if he were frozen. The enchantment lasted only for thirty seconds or less, but this short break was enough for the cavewoman to go near the immobilised Magician and steal something from him. Auree couldn't figure out what that black object was, but she noticed that Flea's shield was gone.

«YOU...YOU THIEVES, YOU SEXUALLY DEVIATED SWINES!» he yelled, as soon as he could speak again, infuriated like nobody had ever seen him «How dare you? What do you think you've done? You'll pay for this!»

He launched a full-force flame attack against the companions, now with the true intent to kill them. The purple-haired girl with the goofy glasses intervened, raising a magical wall and gesturing her friends to hide behind it, so they survived unscathed.

Then, while the two blonde girls run away to help Magus and the spiky-haired boy -who were having a hard time against Slash and his bodyguard- the third girl shot at Flea with a strange device which fired a sort of black ray. Flea promptly evaded the blow. A Hench behind him was instantly killed and, for the first time, Auree could see a glimpse of terror in the Mystic's expression. She couldn't wait anymore. The girl was preparing to shoot again and Flea, still looking bewildered at the Hench's corpse, wasn't aware of the menace...

***

She passed her fingers over his shoulder and arm in a slow, shy caress. She didn't know if he was still asleep -he was lying on a side, facing the other way- but hoped so: only when he was asleep she dared to contemplate him for so long, admiring his beauty, and to touch him on her own initiative...but slightly, surreptitiously, not to awake him.

But this time Flea was already awake and took her hand with a sigh. He turned slowly toward her.

«Good morning, dear...»

Like everyone else, he wasn't at his best in the morning: his braid matted, his eyes still clouded from sleep. He looked a bit less feminine than usual...but still wonderful.

Auree found the courage to go ahead with her caressing, and her hand slid down toward his soft chest -because he _had_ breasts after all, tiny ones (Auree could have looked like that at the age of twelve), nevertheless more than a male usually should have.

«Flea...what's your true name?» she asked in a whisper.

He seemed a little puzzled, but smiled.

«It's a secret my mother has taken with her. I've never told anybody. Can you imagine what kind of power some people can have over you if they know your actual name?»

«Really...?»

«Some spells can work only with the true name of the victim...in every case, the spell's effect is amplified. You must be cautious if you live among ambitious people...»

«I'm sorry» she apologised, ashamed to have asked such an inappropriate question, although Flea's gentle voice didn't sound like he was reproaching her «I didn't mean to be...nosy...»

«It's all right, Auree. I think I will tell you. But not now, and surely not here. I can't afford the risk of letting Slash and Ozzie to discover it...neither I know their true names, on the other hand. I suspect Slash has his ways for spying on me»

«Spying? Here?!» Auree exclaimed, hurriedly covering herself.

He giggled, raising his gaze to the ceiling.

«If this is the case, I hope he has enjoyed the show!»

***

And at the end he had actually told her...he had been interrupted before having the opportunity of speak about his feelings in a proper manner -if she had interpreted correctly the few syllables that had escaped Ozzie's thunderous screaming- but he hadn't wanted to leave her without expressing how much important and trustworthy he considered her.

«NOOOO!» Auree cried and plummeted down from the balcony, in front of the astonished human.

A piercing pain run across her limbs while the remaining energy of the flying spell discharged in the ground through her feet. She nearly fainted, but somehow managed -with the sheer weight of her body- to knock Flea off the black ray's trajectory, just in time. Through a red haze of pain, she saw him rolling unharmed on the ground and a pillar disintegrating in a rain of rubble. Then her body became limp. She confusedly heard voices, slowly came to her senses again and saw Flea's worried face a few inches from hers.

«Auree, what in the world are you doing here? Go away! You're in danger!»

Probably the purple-haired girl was going to shoot again.

_She will hit me first_, Auree thought, _He will be able to escape..._

She grabbed the Mystic's arm.

«Let's go together!»

Flea sustained her and both turned toward their enemy.


	17. Chapter 17

So they are going to delete my other story...bah! :((  
Better hurry with this one...

**Chapter 17**

Ozzie's Fort - 600 A.D.

Lucca was aiming her Wondershot just for defence. She wasn't going to shoot the strange couple, however. How could she? Fighting against Flea was already rather unpleasant: he was an evil fiend and everything, but his human aspect was disturbing. She didn't like violence. And now...that strange woman who had fallen from the ceiling and who was currently shielding Flea was surely human, and Lucca didn't want to hurt her. She simply didn't know what to do.

Then...something strange happened.

For many years after that day, Lucca wouldn't be able to explain that dramatic moment. She had a rational mind, a scientist's mind, and had never believed in thing like premonitions, inexplicable knowledge and strange sensations. For many years she would attribute all this to fatigue and hunger, like a hallucination.

She saw something in Flea's eyes. And that was the most incredible thing, because she wasn't close enough to see into his eyes. Nevertheless, she was mesmerised by those brown orbs, suddenly so _familiar_ and friendly. She read in them...gentleness and warmth, the same qualities that had always comforted her in her childhood, in the eyes of...someone else...And then she shifted her gaze to the woman, and again experienced that sensation, feeling absurdly sure to have already met that woman before...or somehow _after_.

The Wondershot trigger was so cold against her finger, and horrible darkness surrounded Lucca, clouding her vision and filling her heart with despair. The black tentacles of something worse than death groped at her, freezing her to the bones.

She withdrew her finger from the trigger and slowly the world returned to its normal reality. None of her companions was paying attention to her or to the Mystic and his friend. She weakly gestured the two to run away.

***

«Let's go!» Auree exclaimed.

She couldn't say why, but she felt reasonably sure that the girl wouldn't pursue them. She was letting them escape.

But Flea, having recovered from the surprise, was again complaining about the enormous offence he had suffered.

«Do you know what they've done? Eh? Did you see? Those dirty little monsters!»

«Please, Flea, hurry up!»

He stood there, enraged, clutching his arm to his chest...a chest rather _flatter_ than usual.

«They've...they've stolen my BRA! Would you believe this? How could they? What kind of people would rob someone else of his underwear? They must have a twisted mind! Look..._look_!»

«I know perfectly well how you look without it!»

«That's not the point! My bodice was designed to suit the form of a breast, and...without it, I look...so...so...»

He was almost in tears. He spitted out the terrible word.

«..._dishevelled_!»

«You'll look _dead_ if you don't run!»

«But I can't even run, I've lost a heel too...these were my favourite boots! HUMANS!!! The nerve!»

«COME!!!»

Glaring for the last time to the purple-haired girl, Auree pushed Flea toward one of the back exits of the hall. The battle was moving toward the inner chambers, for Ozzie had fled, pursued by most of the attacking group, and Slash had fallen, his guard disbanded. They could manage to run away unnoticed.

Flea was limping because of the damaged boots, but insisted not to lean on Auree. He stopped abruptly and grasped her as suddenly aware of a danger.

***

Lucca sighed in relief, seeing the two retiring from the fighting. For those frightening moments she had been sure that some events could have followed a completely different path. Some events could have followed a very _bad_ path.

She turned, ready to run to reach her friends, when noticed someone who had observed the scene and hadn't liked it.

She opened her mouth to shout but it was already too late.

***

Flea had perceived the slight breeze, the charging of some magic behind him, and the tingling on the back of his neck. So, with prompt reflexes, he pushed Auree away from him and managed to put her to safety when the lighting struck.


	18. Chapter 18

(Actually, I always let Flea escape at Ozzie's Fort...)

**Chapter 18**

Ozzie's Fort - 600 A.D.

«Flea...»

He was lying on his back amid rubbles, deathly pale under the make-up, and seemed to have difficulties with breathing. Even now -his hair a mess, his clothes tattered and his androgynous face stained with blood and dirt- he looked so beautiful...and so defenceless...

«Flea, please!»

He opened his eyes.

«Oohhh...Auree, you're safe» he said in a whisper, smiling weakly.

«Yes, but you should get up before they find us...»

«Auree, my darling...perhaps I'm leaving you...»

«No, you aren't!»

«Please permit me to express my deepest gratitude for all you've done...and, you must already know, but I have to tell you...I love you so much. Should I die now, you...»

But Auree was tired of this. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him brusquely.

«Stop this! You're not dying! You're not even hurt! Just your cloak was on fire, and I threw it away! You fell because of the _broken heel_!»

He sighed heavily, rising to a sitting position. He shook his head in the vain hope to clean his braid from the dust, then gave up.

«You're right. Actually, I'm rather fine. Only my pride has suffered. But, see...I was trying to create a dramatic scenario to speak to you more effectively...Ozzie's disgraceful voice having ruined my first attempt to reveal my inner feelings»

Auree giggled nervously.

«Are you serious? Did you really _mean_...»

«I've said that I love you. What should I mean?»

«Never heard these words before...»

«Actually, I've already told you, our first night together. Can you remember when we were...well, when I spoke in my native language? What did you believe I was saying?» he let out a heavy sigh, «Auree, you're driving me crazy. Always so unsure about yourself and your own value...why?»

She helped him to stand up, while thinking about the injured bodies she had seen in the Great Hall.

«I hope Gorgl had escaped,» she murmured, «He wasn't that bad...»

«Uneducated and often gross, but not evil, that's for sure»

«I've reached the conclusion that Mystics aren't evil at all»

«Don't be so sure. Slash is a liar and quite a pervertand...»

«I mean not evil _as a race_. Just...like us. Good and bad people, not _monsters_!»

He nodded.

«Is Slash truly dead?» she wondered.

Flea shrugged.

«Don't know. I wouldn't bet on this. But, will we miss him? Let's talk about _you_, instead...You must be mad...jumping from the balcony, getting in the way while they were shooting me...You've risked your life for me»

«Isn't that what love is all about?»

She stared at him with a defying stance. She could be bashful and self-conscious, but not cowardly. She spoke in a low, menacing tone.

«When they robbed me of everything I loved, I was a child and I couldn't fight back...But now, I will defend those dearest to me with ALL MY STRENGTH!»

She had nearly shouted the last three words, shaking her clenched fists. Flea blinked slowly.

«I'm really impressed. And probably you have _actually_ saved my life»

«You've saved mine when you pushed me away from the lighting. I'm not magical resistant like you»

«Just for knowledge...who hit me?»

«The tall man with blue hair»

«Magus! And I thought we were friends! Can you understand your fellow humans, Auree?»

«No»

«Ah, that's reassuring...No! My bodice is in _shreds_!»

«But what did they want? There weren't slaves anymore, we were at peace with Guardia Kingdom...»

«Some people don't need a reason to use violence»

«And that girl, the purple-haired one...she has let us escape...»

They looked at each other in mutual understanding. They knew they had shared the same inexplicable and disquieting sensation about her. Auree suddenly went and hugged him. Flea held her in his arms and was about to tell her something soothing, when an awful sound froze them. A horrible howling and a loud thump.

«I can't believe it» Flea whispered, shocked «Ozzie again!»

Auree began laughing softly.

«What...happened?» she asked with a lilting voice, muffled against his shoulder.

«Probably he just fell in one of those stupid trapdoors of his»

«I believed he could fly»

«Not when encased in his ice barrier...I'm really growing tired of his meddling in our romantic moments, you know»

Auree was now laughing uncontrollably, shaking in his embrace.

«Sorry...it seems...I can't stop...»

«Don't worry. Actually, there's something funny in all this...»

He too was feeling hilarious.

«But we should go!» she insisted, as soon as she had retrieved her breath.

«Yes! We have youth and health, we are in love...what in the world could frighten us?»

He took her hand and, together, they run out of the gloomy castle, toward the sunlight.

***

Fleeing wasn't easy, however. The humans were coming out too. Flea and Auree quickly hid behind a slab of stone, which had crashed down from the higher rampart into the courtyard.

_Why did this thing fall down?_ Auree asked herself, but immediately forgot the question to instead pay attention to her enemies talking while entering their weird transportation.

«Is it a flying machine?» she asked Flea in the lowest voice she could manage.

«Uhm...probably. They are leaving as if nothing had happened...Look at them! A freak frogman, a woman for whom being called should be a neat compliment, an arrogant traitor, a humanoid machinery and three disturbed adolescent...Are they representing your people?»

«I'm afraid they are»

«They're leaving after having destroyed this fort and slaughtered most of its inhabitants, and they're laughing and singing. They wouldn't have killed _animals_ so nonchalantly!»

Auree sighed, deeply ashamed.

«And they're leaving with my bra. What did they need it for? Oh, Auree...your books and things I bought for you! We can't leave all this here!»

«No matter...»

Flea shook his head.

«No! You won't lose everything again! Listen: we remain hidden here...when those cretins have gone, we'll return to my quarters and take your stuff...»

Then Marle pushed the red button and Auree discovered what had displaced the heavy slab.

***

«Have you heard something like a , just a second ago?» Marle asked her companions «Like someone screaming?»

«Not really» Lucca yawned.

«Nothing can beat the music of hundreds of voices screaming in unison!» Crono exclaimed, with a shrill, disturbing voice «Uwa, ha, ha...ha...»

He trailed off, noticing that everybody was looking at him.

Marle shook her head disapprovingly.

«And I used to complain because he was too quiet...»

***

«Flea!»

«Auree! Don't leave me!»

«Aaargh!»

They were flying in the air like dead leaves, not for a spell but because of the air turbulence caused by the Epoch tearing space-time fabric. They were flailing their arms desperately, trying to reach something to cling to, or, at least, the other one's hand.

Menacing blue and black holes gaped at them.

«What are they?» Auree yelled above the wind.

«Don't know! Auree! This one is sucking me in!»

«Hold on! Resist! I'm coming!»

«No! It will catch you too!»

Auree stretched her arm until her shoulder ached. And at last she managed to grab something. Flea's braid. Of course, she couldn't wrench him away from that shining vortex, but that hadn't been her first goal.

«Wherever you're going, I'll be with you!»

***

The End of Time - ???

«We should destroy it» Glenn said, solemnly.

The companions were sitting on the floor at the End of Time, observing silently an object made of black lace. Crono had gingerly touched it and then had retreated, embarrassed.

Magus was chanting a litany and moving a hand above the object, which suddenly acquired a red aura.

«It is enchanted» he declared «It has power»

«Yes, it magically makes your breast look two sizes bigger» Marle whispered to Lucca, and both laughed loudly.

Glenn and Magus looked sternly at the girls, then the second one explained:

«This is a powerful armour against magic attacks. It can be very useful»

«You are _not_ suggesting that someone among us should wear it!» Crono exclaimed.

Magus seemed to think hard about it.

«We have to use every available protection against Lavos. It will be the hardest battle...»

«Look, I'm not going to wear a bra in any circumstance. The same with Glenn, and you, right?»

He looked around. Gaspar was snoring, leant against his lamp-post. 

_How can he sleep standing, _Crono thought._ Well, who cares...Ayla, no. She would try to wear the thing on her head. What about Robo with Flea's underwear...yes, we could win, Lavos will die laughing... _

He gathered his courage and smiled cheerfully to Lucca and Marle.

«Well, one of you could...»

He never finished the sentence. The two girls exchanged a brief glance then, with perfect synchrony, hit him.

«How dare you!» Marle yelled, punching his head.

«Stupid man!» Lucca shouted, kicking his right leg.

«But what...why...what did I say?» he protested, confused.

They answered together.

«WE DON'T NEED A PADDED BRA, YOU FOOL!»

---------------

Yes, another cliffhanger...the last one, I promise.

Next time, the Epilogue, with a bit of surprise ending...no, not much of a surprise, I'm afraid. An ending, anyway.


	19. Epilogue

I can't believe it took me so long to finish this...I have no excuse, I know.

Hoping this ending doesn't disappoint you...

**Epilogue**

Truce Village - 960 A.D.

The baby, lying silently in its cradle, wasn't asleep. Its round big eyes were wide open, as it observed in fascination the big flying thing before him. A large bat, fluttering above the baby's tiny face and coming closer...

«Flea, don't! You'll scare him!»

Flea resumed his form in a flash of light. He sighed.

«He isn't scared, look! Why should he? One of the fondest memories I have of my mother is that one...she transforming and flying around me to make me laugh!»

«As a bat?»

«No, as a sparrow. But I can't do the sparrow...»

He leaned over the cradle and began to make faces at the child, who smiled. He created small flickers in his hands and sent them floating around.

Auree was about to protest, but stopped.

_Why should I be so petulant? Let them play! Oh...I'm beginning to resemble my mother, always complaining and forbidding things and blah blah blah!_

«Flea, please refrain from magic for the next hours, will you? Our neighbours are coming»

Flea glanced toward the open window.

«I can't see them» he answered, and leaped into the air. With a quick gesture, he summoned Auree besides him near the ceiling and kissed her, squeezing her in his arms until she shrieked.

«...and above all refrain from this kind of things! If someone should see us...?»

He laughed loudly.

«Yes, I'm just a _friend_, I remember»

«You're a _female_ friend»

They slowly descended.

«If you say so» he sighed «Actually playing the woman...well, I must admit it's fun when the boys in town smile at me in that way and...»

«They WHAT!»

«Hee hee hee...»

«Stop it!»

Auree looked around in her comfortable parlour. Everything seemed ready for the incoming guests. Her two Mystic servants -two Imps who were the only ones in Truce knowing Flea's true identity- had done a good job. But she felt nervous. Now she was at last ready to try to reconcile with the human society...and dreaded that something wrong could ruin that day.

«I'm aware I'm asking you a lot,» she murmured «But it's difficult for me, too...can you imagine, Flea, how much I'd like to tell everybody that you are my husband and the father of my child? I'd like to open the window and shout at the top of my lungs!»

«The window is open» he said, with a smile «Oh, I know, Auree. We've discussed all this for so long and I agreed...Don't torment yourself. I would do _everything_ for you and the baby»

«Flea, you are so...sweet...» she whispered, with tears in his eyes.

«I usually am» he proudly answered, offering her a handkerchief.

More than a year before -shortly after having emerged from the time warp into the middle of a peaceful Mystic village- they had got married with a rather weird but really touching Mystic ceremony. They had lived in Flea's hometown for a while but when Auree had found herself pregnant she had begun to feel nostalgic, believing that perhaps the child -being mostly human- should have contacts with humans too.

So they had departed, moving to Truce village, in which Flea had bought a newly built large house. There the baby was born.

Many things had changed in three hundreds and sixty years. Mystics and humans were living in peace now, humans were welcomed in Mystic villages and vice versa. So, no one had found questionable Auree's explanation that her husband worked in Medina and used to be far away from home for long periods (that was partially true- that he worked in Medina; he was still very dedicated to his studies about magic and, with some colleagues, had opened a small school there).

Nobody had objected about Flea's presence nor had inquired about their relationship: it seemed natural that a woman often left alone -and now with a baby- had brought a friend with her for help and company. A Mystic friend seemed all right, too. People seemed a lot more open-minded, now in 960 A.D...but they weren't ready for _everything_. Not for an interracial marriage, not for a half-blood child, not for Flea's peculiar taste in clothing.

She sighed and her gaze dropped on the ring with a sapphire, which adorned her finger. That ring! They had looked for the old jeweller's shop, not really expecting to find it, and instead it still existed, just moved into a newer building. And the ring, the same Flea had ordered for his girlfriend in 600 A.D., was there too. The goldsmith had shrunk it for Auree and none seemed to have a finger like hers. The ring had been a kind of "mascot" for the shop across the centuries and at first the jeweller's wife didn't want to sell it. But, seeing that special object fitting perfectly on Auree's finger, she had stared at the human in awe, murmuring about a miracle.

And it had been there, in the workshop, in front of the whole jeweller's family, that Flea had dropped on one knee, had evocated a bunch of red roses from nowhere and had asked Auree to become his wife.

Mystic engagements and weddings usually didn't involved rings, he had just wanted it to offer Auree something similar to human traditions.

«You do love that ring, eh?»

«It means a lot to me»

«Too bad your old house has been demolished two hundred years ago. _That_ would have been a neat present»

She smiled brightly.

«I appreciate your kindness, but...I've thought about this recently and...I have realized that it's not so important, now»

«Don't you miss your house anymore?»

She shook her head.

«I _have_ a house now, and this is better than that one...Because that was my parent's house, this is _ours._ I have my house, my family, my _life_. All the old stuff has remained in another age. I really felt reborn...and I owe you all this, Flea»

He looked extremely amazed.

«Oh, you're not believing in yourself, again! I haven't changed anything that wasn't ready for a change. I've just offered you an opportunity..._You_ decided to think and act differently, to take decision and responsibilities..._you_ did it»

She smiled slyly.

«In order to change, you must have the will _and_ the opportunity. Your destiny always depends a bit from other people's whim and from random events. The idea of someone doing everything all by himself is just a myth»

«Well...yes»

«So your help has been as important as my determination»

He nodded.

«If you want to look at thing in this way...but don't forget our love has changed my life, too. So, you owe me half of all you've got now. And I owe you half of all I've got»

Auree neared the cradle.

«And whose is it?» she asked mockingly, pointing to the baby.

He shrugged.

«Fifty-fifty. When he laughs he's mine, when he cries he's yours»

«Ha!»

Auree stroked gently her son's brown hair. He had quite a rich hair for a three-weeks-old baby.

«Are you sure the name I've chosen is right for you?» she asked, anxious again.

Flea sighed.

«We are decided! You name sons, I'll name daughters»

«There isn't a daughter»

«Not yet, but there'll be!»

She stared at him intently.

«Not now»

«No...in the future»

Having a child had been a decision Auree had willingly taken and now she was happy, of course, but...it hadn't been exactly what passed for fun, although her husband had stayed with her during childbirth, relieving her pain with magic and herbal potions.

«I've missed you a lot in these past four months...» Flea whispered unexpectedly in her ear.

She smiled, suddenly interested in the floorboards under her.

«I've missed you, too» she admitted «I'm recovering...I think we could...very soon»

«Great!»

«Oh! I'm just sorry about a thing. A rather stupid thing, I don't know how I can think about it, but...»

«What is it?»

«He doesn't resemble you at all! He's all alike my grandfather!»

«He looks a strongly built baby, yes. But I _can_ see the resemblance. Can't you?»

She examined the child again.

«No...»

«He has something from me, really. First of all, he has my eyes...»

«Ah, that's true»

«...and he has a sort of magical aura...some latent red in his hair...potential, all this is _potential_»

«Do you mean he has talent for magic?»

«Not sure...perhaps these qualities will show up in _his_ children»

«Your fire magic and your red hair?»

«Yes, perhaps»

Auree remained silent for a while, slowly caressing the child's tiny cheek with a finger. When she spoke again, her voice was a sad murmuring.

«He'll need to know the truth»

Flea nodded thoughtfully.

«I'm not going to feign also with him»

Their gazes met. The Mystic stepped forward and hugged his wife.

«We'll leave him only when he'll be ready...living his own life and not needing us anymore»

She didn't answer, her face pressed against his shoulder.

«A handsome boy like him...» he continued, soothingly «Girls will adore him! I bet that at the age of twenty he'll be already married...perhaps even a parent!»

He was slightly patting her back.

Of course, sooner or later, it would become evident to the other inhabitants of Truce that Auree and Flea weren't aging at the same rate of normal people. It wouldn't be wise to remain there for too long if they wanted a normal life for their child. On the other hand, the thought of forcing her son to leave with them was for Auree -for obvious reasons- intolerable.

«Auree» he whispered in her ear «We have at least twenty years to get prepared...and to prepare him»

She sighed heavily.

«Twenty...or two hundreds...it'll be always too soon»

«Or...perhaps things will be different then. Perhaps he will be eager to see the world and will choose to come with us...who knows? I promise, however, that in no circumstances we will leave him alone»

Auree smiled, detaching from him, and wiped her tears away.

«They're coming» she announced.

Flea turned, following her gaze: he could see people crossing the bridge that linked the house to the main land -Flea and Auree lived on a small island to the southwest of Truce.

They were neighbours and friends, coming with small gifts and cakes for the Naming Ceremony, the first time a newborn baby would be presented to the rest of the community.

The Mystic stepped away from the window and cast an illusion spell upon himself. He had just said he was ready to do everything for his family and he was sincere.

When the guests entered the house they were welcomed by Auree's husband, an elegant and attractive man with short red hair and an open smile, who was wearing a proper, _sober_, ceremony dress and -above all- had normal round ears.

He immediately charmed every woman with his appearance and his exquisite manners. There was no lipstick, no nail varnish, no earring anywhere, and absolutely no sign whatsoever he could be a Mystic.

He had already used that disguise in previous occasions among Truce people. Although someone might have noticed the resemblance between that slender human man and the pretty Mystic woman who lived with Auree...they had no clue to guess the truth, however.

Soon the room was full of expectant people. Auree had received the gifts for the baby, had politely thanked everyone, had checked the refreshments and now she was ready. She left the parlour after having called the Imp servants to take care of the guests' needs.

The Naming Ceremony was a fairly simple and short thing indeed. When Auree re-entered with the child in her arms, everybody fell silent and looked at her. She stepped to the centre of the room, smiled at her husband, who soon reached her and put his arm around her waist. The first sign of their affection they were allowed to show in public since they had chosen to live with humans...and they both treasured it.

Auree stared into his eyes, lost in reverie, for a long time. Because, although the illusion worked over her as well, Flea's face, his fluttering eyelashes, his way of slightly pursing his lips and then relaxing in a half-mocking smile were still the same, and she would have recognised them everywhere under a ton of disguises.

She came back to reality hearing someone's polite coughing. The guests were waiting, it was her moment. Flea gently patted her back.

Auree cleaned her throat and spoke.

«My son's name» she announced proudly «will be Taban»

Everybody applauded enthusiastically and congratulated. Flea held her closer and smiled to the child. Auree cradled the baby in her arms, listening to the voice that, even through such an inebriating happy noise, had managed to get heard from the back of her mind. The usual rebuking voice...her mother's.

_Sure, it seems you're happy. But it will not last for long!_ it warned.

Her gaze wandered out of the window, toward the sea...

She shrugged.

THE END

Well, it was fun...

Goodbye!


End file.
